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  • In Flanders Fields
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In Flanders Fields

John McCrae

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.


John McCrae

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death in battle duty the dead wildflowers World War I
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John McCrae1872 - 1918

John McCrae, of Scottish descent, served as an army surgeon in the First World War, where he wrote his poem 'In Flanders Fields', the source of the symbol of the poppy as a sign of remembrance.
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