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.
What I find especially striking about this poem are the contrasts it contains. There is the contrast between the world of nature (the blowing poppies and the larks "who still bravely singing, fly"), continuing on as it always has, and the world of men, who are set on destroying one another ("the guns below"). There is also the contrast between the pathos of the second stanza, evoking the dead soldiers who were alive but "short days ago," and the patriotic/heroic tone of the third stanza ("Take up our quarrel with the foe!/To you from failing hands we throw/The torch; be yours to hold it high!"). Essentially, McCrae's poem incorporates two seemingly conflicting perspectives on war--the heroic (exemplified by Brooke's poetry) and the tragic (represented by Owen's poetry).
War has been a feature of much of human history, so it is perhaps not that surprising that it has been a frequent theme in literature. Nevertheless, Scripture assures us that there is a time coming when men will "beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4, NIV). Then there will be no cause to reflect on war and its fruit, as McCrae and so many others have been forced to do. l beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Image of John McCrae from Wikimedia Commons