《in flanders fields and other poems》

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In Flanders Fields And Other Poems

by John McCrae



In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae

With an Essay in Character by Sir Andrew Macphail



John McCrae; physician; soldier; and poet; died in France
a Lieutenant…Colonel with the Canadian forces。

The poem which gives this collection of his lovely verse its name
has been extensively reprinted; and received with unusual enthusiasm。

The volume contains; as well; a striking essay in character
by his friend; Sir Andrew Macphail。








In Flanders Fields
        


In Flanders fields the poppies grow
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。

                      John McCrae


{From a} Facsimile of an autograph copy of the poem 〃In Flanders Fields〃

This was probably written from memory as 〃grow〃 is used in place of 〃blow〃
in the first line。






Contents



In Flanders Fields
  1915

The Anxious Dead
  1917

The Warrior
  1907

Isandlwana
  1910

The Unconquered Dead
  1906

The Captain
  1913

The Song of the Derelict
  1898

Quebec
  1908

Then and Now
  1896

Unsolved
  1895

The Hope of My Heart
  1894

Penance
  1896

Slumber Songs
  1897

The Oldest Drama
  1907

Recompense
  1896

Mine Host
  1897

Equality
  1898

Anarchy
  1897

Disarmament
  1899

The Dead Master
  1913

The Harvest of the Sea
  1898

The Dying of Pere Pierre
  1904

Eventide
  1895

Upon Watts' Picture 〃Sic Transit〃
  1904

A Song of Comfort
  1894

The Pilgrims
  1905

The Shadow of the Cross
  1894

The Night Cometh
  1913

In Due Season
  1897

John McCrae
  An Essay in Character by Sir Andrew Macphail






In Flanders Fields






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。




The Anxious Dead



O guns; fall silent till the dead men hear
 Above their heads the legions pressing on:
(These fought their fight in time of bitter fear;
 And died not knowing how the day had gone。)

O flashing muzzles; pause; and let them see
 The coming dawn that streaks the sky afar;
Then let your mighty chorus witness be
 To them; and Caesar; that we still make war。

Tell them; O guns; that we have heard their call;
 That we have sworn; and will not turn aside;
That we will onward till we win or fall;
 That we will keep the faith for which they died。

Bid them be patient; and some day; anon;
 They shall feel earth enwrapt in silence deep;
Shall greet; in wonderment; the quiet dawn;
 And in content may turn them to their sleep。




The Warrior



He wrought in poverty; the dull grey days;
 But with the night his little lamp…lit room
Was bright with battle flame; or through a haze
 Of smoke that stung his eyes he heard the boom
Of Bluecher's guns; he shared Almeida's scars;
 And from the close…packed deck; about to die;
Looked up and saw the 〃Birkenhead〃's tall spars
 Weave wavering lines across the Southern sky:

Or in the stifling 'tween decks; row on row;
 At Aboukir; saw how the dead men lay;
  Charged with the fiercest in Busaco's strife;
Brave dreams are his  the flick'ring lamp burns low 
 Yet couraged for the battles of the day
  He goes to stand full face to face with life。




Isandlwana



     Scarlet coats; and crash o' the band;
      The grey of a pauper's gown;
     A soldier's grave in Zululand;
      And a woman in Brecon Town。

My little lad for a soldier boy;
 (Mothers o' Brecon Town!)
My eyes for tears and his for joy
 When he went from Brecon Town;
His for the flags and the gallant sights
His for the medals and his for the fights;
And mine for the dreary; rainy nights
 At home in Brecon Town。

They say he's laid beneath a tree;
 (Come back to Brecon Town!)
Shouldn't I know?   I was there to see:
 (It's far to Brecon Town!)
It's me that keeps it trim and drest
With a briar there and a rose by his breast 
The English flowers he likes the best
 That I bring from Brecon Town。

And I sit beside him  him and me;
 (We're back to Brecon Town。)
To talk of the things that used to be
 (Grey ghosts of Brecon Town);
I know the look o' the land and sky;
And the bird that builds in the tree near by;
And times I hear the jackals cry;
 And me in Brecon Town。

     Golden grey on miles of sand
      The dawn comes creeping down;
     It's day in far off Zululand
      And night in Brecon Town。




The Unconquered Dead

     〃。 。 。 defeated; with great loss。〃



Not we the conquered!  Not to us the blame
 Of them that flee; of them that basely yield;
Nor ours the shout of victory; the fame
 Of them that vanquish in a stricken field。

That day of battle in the dusty heat
 We lay and heard the bullets swish and sing
Like scythes amid the over…ripened wheat;
 And we the harvest of their garnering。

Some yielded; No; not we!  Not we; we swear
 By these our wounds; this trench upon the hill
Where all the shell…strewn earth is seamed and bare;
 Was ours to keep; and lo! we have it still。

We might have yielded; even we; but death
 Came for our helper; like a sudden flood
The crashing darkness fell; our painful breath
 We drew with gasps amid the choking blood。

The roar fell faint and farther off; and soon
 Sank to a foolish humming in our ears;
Like crickets in the long; hot afternoon
 Among the wheat fields of the olden years。

Before our eyes a boundless wall of red
 Shot through by sudden streaks of jagged pain!
Then a slow…gathering darkness overhead
 And rest came on us like a quiet rain。

Not we the conquered!  Not to us the shame;
 Who hold our earthen ramparts; nor shall cease
To hold them ever; victors we; who came
 In that fierce moment to our honoured peace。




The Captain

1797



     Here all the day she swings from tide to tide;
      Here all night long she tugs a rusted chain;
     A masterless hulk that was a ship of pride;
      Yet unashamed:  her memories remain。

It was Nelson in the ‘Captain'; Cape St。 Vincent far alee;
 With the ‘Vanguard' leading s'uth'ard in the haze 
Little Jervis and the Spaniards and the fight that was to be;
Twenty…seven Spanish battleships; great bullies of the sea;
 And the ‘Captain' there to find her day of days。

Right into them the ‘Vanguard' leads; but with a sudden tack
 The Spaniards double swiftly on their trail;
Now Jervis overshoots his mark; like some too eager pack;
He will not overtake them; haste he e'er so greatly back;
 But Nelson and the ‘Captain' will not fail。

Like a tigress on her quarry leaps the ‘Captain' from her place;
 To lie across the fleeing squadron's way:
Heavy odds and heavy onslaught; gun to gun and face to face;
Win the ship a name of glory; win the men a death of grace;
 For a little hold the Spanish fleet in play。

Ended now the 〃Captain〃's battle; stricken sore she falls aside
 Holding still her foemen; beaten to the knee:
As the ‘Vanguard' drifted past her; 〃Well done; ‘Captain';〃 Jervis cried;
Rang the cheers of men that conquered; ran the blood of men that died;
 And the ship had won her immortality。

     Lo! here her progeny of steel and steam;
      A funnelled monster at her mooring swings:
     Still; in our hearts; we see her pennant stream;
      And 〃Well done; ‘Captain';〃 like a trumpet rings。




The Song of the Derelict



Ye have sung me your songs; ye have chanted your rimes
 (I scorn your beguiling; O sea!)
Ye fondle me now; but to strike me betimes。
 (A treacherous lover; the sea!)
Once I saw as I lay; half…awash in the night
A hull in the gloom  a quick hail  and a light
And I lurched o'er to leeward and saved her for spite
 From the doom that ye meted to me。

I was sister to ‘Terrible'; seventy…four;
 (Yo ho! for the swing of the sea!)
And ye sank her in fathoms a thousand or more
 (Alas! for the might of the sea!)
Ye taunt me and sing me her fate for a sign!
What harm can ye wreak more on me or on mine?
Ho braggart!  I care not for boasting of thine 
 A fig for the wrath of the sea!

Some night to the lee of the land I shall steal;
 (Heigh…ho to be home from the sea!)
No pilot but Death at the rudderless wheel;
 (None knoweth the harbor as he!)
To lie where the slow tide creeps hither and fro
And t
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