Memorial Day Poems

Canadian physician and artillery officer, Lt. Col. John McCrae, wrote one of the most famous war poems ever penned—In Flanders Fields.

In May of 1915, he composed the first draft during the Second Battle of Ypres on the Western Front in Belgium. He was second in command of the 1st Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. The death of his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, was the inspiration for McCrae’s poem. Initially rejected by another publisher, his poem appeared in Punch Magazine in December of 1915.

Since its publication, the red poppy has become a symbol for those who have died in war.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields sparked a number of response poems. American poet, C.B. Galbreath wrote:

An Answer

In Flanders Field the cannon boom
And fitful flashes light the gloom;
While up above, like Eagles, fly
The fierce destroyers of the sky;
With stains the earth wherein you lie
Is redder than the poppy bloom
In Flanders Field.

Sleep on ye brave! The shrieking shell,
The quaking trench, the startling yell,
The fury of the battle hell
Shall wake you not; for all is well.

Sleep peacefully, for all is well.
Your flaming torch aloft we bear,
With burning heart an oath we swear
To keep the faith to fight it through
To crush the foe, or sleep with you
In Flanders Field

RIP heroes, lest we forget.

Tom Reilly, Sgt.
US Army, Vietnam 1969-70
Author, Hope in The Shadows of War