The first two stanzas of "In Flanders Field" are a great

[raccoon]

anti-war statement. Does anybody else here think that?

[babylonsister]

1. Yes. Pls. see this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5330849

[raccoon]

4. Thanks for the link. nt

[hatrack]

2. Yeah, but things really fall apart in the final stanza - blecch.

Especially when compared with some of the good war poets - like Isaac Rosenberg. He does a much better job with poppies.

The darkness crumbles away.
It is the same old druid time as ever,
Only a live thing leaps my hand,
A queer sardonic rat,
As I pull the parapet’s poppy
To stick behind my ear.
Droll rat, they would shoot you if they knew
Your cosmopolitan sympathies.
Now you have touched this English hand
You will do the same to a German
Soon, no doubt, if it be your pleasure
To cross the sleeping green between.
It seems you inwardly grin as you pass
Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes
Less chanced than you for life,
Bound to the whims of murder,
Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,
The torn fields of France.
What do you see in our eyes
At the shrieking iron and flame
Hurled through still heavens?
What quaver - what heart aghast?
Poppies whose roots are in man’s veins
Drop, and are ever dropping;
But mine in my ear is safe,
Just a little white with the dust.

Break Of Day In The Trenches - 1915

[raccoon]

5. I did a search on him and found this site,

http://www.arlindo-correia.com/120404.html

His works kick butt! I wasn't familiar with him.

[enlightenment]

3. True. A beautiful piece. Here's the text:

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

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.

[theophilus]

6. For a look at the same subject matter from a different perspective.

Take a look at this page and click on "Fun in Flanders'. It is interesting to see the "romantic" view still reflecting the horrors of the thing. (If you like music of the early Twentieth century you will love this site, too.)

http://dismuke.org/how/

[raccoon]

7. Thanks for the link. nt

[Zenaholic]

8. Friends of Mine

In Flanders Field the poppies grow
bewteen the crosses row on row
to mark the dead.
To Flanders Field the hippies go
to smoke the poppies down below
and feed their heads.
And they're all friends of mine
each and every one
no better and no worse.

-The Guess Who