Every Canadian school boy and girl of my generation learned to recite this poem by Lt.-Col. John McCrae. Let's learn something about this poem and the man who wrote it.
Thank you, Perry. I've been familiar with the poem but not McCrae and learned a lot here. Really appreciate the Leonard Cohen links and they bring a deep emotional, meaningful depth to the article through the music.
Yes, Cohen's last songs are dark, understandably so. The times that we are living in reflect this in so many ways. It is why I find so much joy and sanity among animals..They are truth tellers. Thank you Heidi for your comment.
Thank you Perry. I'm a bit equivocal about poppies, and Remembrance Day each year on 11th Nov - because I feel it's been 'hijacked' to make war seem 'all right' - seem to be an occasional 'necessity' because 'humans are humans'.
I don't think wars are necessary; they are very carefully engineered over years beforehand - and then 'made o.k' by wreath-laying etc - to cover up the real culprits behind the scenes. Big-wigs spout "we must never let this happen again" whilst simultaneously planning the next war - profiteering for the military-industrial complex.
Having said that, however, I absolutely believe the war-dead should be remembered - but for the right reasons - as a generation who were caught up in a historical tsunami, and did the best they could, with huge sacrifices.
And thanks too for the Leonard Cohen recital of Flanders Fields, and for the 'You want it Darker' track - powerful stuff; very powerful.
Yes, I quite agree about the poppies; I have swung back and forth over the decades for the same reasons. But now I decided that I look at the poppies as a way to honour the men who died doing their duty.
Leonard Cohen's recitation of the poem is powerful; his recitation song is chilling and a testament to his seeing the end of things. His life; and perhaps other things.
My dad missed that war by less than a year... he had a lot of tense stories. The Canadians had a big camp close to where he and later we were brought up. The night the war ended the army boys - by reputation pretty wild to start with - commandeered their way into central London and built a giant bonfire in Trafalgar Square from the wooden street paving blocks of those days, cracking one of the lions, dad believed. Dad, a not very tall teenager working in London was carried off his feet by the crowd - very scary - was relieved by his deliverance and caught a a train home. As you say... the aftermath, plural, continues...
From late October to Armistice Day, I proudly wear a poppy. Last year, it was a British Legion one (Poppy-Scotland's is a little different), and a Canadian one, given to me by a Canadian veteran after the D-Day commemoration in Paris last June. I don't wear the poppy as a symbol of war, but as an indication of personal remembrance to all those killed in conflicts and through terrorism, whether in uniform or civilian dress. This is especially poignant today, the twentieth anniversary of the London bombings that tragically took the lives of 52 people of various nationalities and faiths, who were simply using public transport to go about their business.
Well said, Harry. Thank you for the British history of wearing poppies; lest we forget. I wear the poppy a few weeks before November 11th. It is still common here in Canada among us older ones.
Thank you for bringing my attention to LC’s recital! Beautiful 🌸
A powerful poem, Perry. We read it on November 11th here in England. I didn't know about the poet and his life - thank you.
Yes, I thought I would dig a little deeper into the life of the poet-soldier-physician.
Thank you, Perry. I've been familiar with the poem but not McCrae and learned a lot here. Really appreciate the Leonard Cohen links and they bring a deep emotional, meaningful depth to the article through the music.
Yes, Cohen's last songs are dark, understandably so. The times that we are living in reflect this in so many ways. It is why I find so much joy and sanity among animals..They are truth tellers. Thank you Heidi for your comment.
Thank you Perry. I'm a bit equivocal about poppies, and Remembrance Day each year on 11th Nov - because I feel it's been 'hijacked' to make war seem 'all right' - seem to be an occasional 'necessity' because 'humans are humans'.
I don't think wars are necessary; they are very carefully engineered over years beforehand - and then 'made o.k' by wreath-laying etc - to cover up the real culprits behind the scenes. Big-wigs spout "we must never let this happen again" whilst simultaneously planning the next war - profiteering for the military-industrial complex.
Having said that, however, I absolutely believe the war-dead should be remembered - but for the right reasons - as a generation who were caught up in a historical tsunami, and did the best they could, with huge sacrifices.
And thanks too for the Leonard Cohen recital of Flanders Fields, and for the 'You want it Darker' track - powerful stuff; very powerful.
Yes, I quite agree about the poppies; I have swung back and forth over the decades for the same reasons. But now I decided that I look at the poppies as a way to honour the men who died doing their duty.
Leonard Cohen's recitation of the poem is powerful; his recitation song is chilling and a testament to his seeing the end of things. His life; and perhaps other things.
True; I read that McCrae became ambivalent about the war afterward. It shows in the poem.
It's a poem that, when read carefully - especially the final stanza - inspires ambivalent feelings.
If I may summarise:
Our places marked by poppies, we have done our bit - fought and died.
Now it is your turn, to continue the fight.
As much for recruiting the next cohort as for remembering the last.
Thanks for restacking.
My dad missed that war by less than a year... he had a lot of tense stories. The Canadians had a big camp close to where he and later we were brought up. The night the war ended the army boys - by reputation pretty wild to start with - commandeered their way into central London and built a giant bonfire in Trafalgar Square from the wooden street paving blocks of those days, cracking one of the lions, dad believed. Dad, a not very tall teenager working in London was carried off his feet by the crowd - very scary - was relieved by his deliverance and caught a a train home. As you say... the aftermath, plural, continues...
Yes, it does, Philip. At least your dad had a few good stories to share with you and his buddies. War stories!
The poem that ultimately inspired the wearing of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. First published in Punch, having been rejected by The Spectator, in 1918, in response to McCrae's poem, American humanitarian Moina Michael wrote 'And now the Torch and Poppy Red, we wear in honor of our dead…' as part of her campaign to make the poppy a symbol of remembrance of those who had died in the war. It didn't take off in the USA. Still, the idea inspired Anna Guérin to assemble a group of French wounded ex-servicemen to make artificial poppies in France to raise money for war orphans. Anna first sold poppies in Britain on November 11 1921, to raise money for the Earl Haig Fund to support ex-servicemen and the families of those who had died in the conflict. She sold all her poppies within a few hours, so in 1922, the British Legion founded a factory staffed by disabled ex-servicemen to produce its own.
From late October to Armistice Day, I proudly wear a poppy. Last year, it was a British Legion one (Poppy-Scotland's is a little different), and a Canadian one, given to me by a Canadian veteran after the D-Day commemoration in Paris last June. I don't wear the poppy as a symbol of war, but as an indication of personal remembrance to all those killed in conflicts and through terrorism, whether in uniform or civilian dress. This is especially poignant today, the twentieth anniversary of the London bombings that tragically took the lives of 52 people of various nationalities and faiths, who were simply using public transport to go about their business.
Lest we forget.
Well said, Harry. Thank you for the British history of wearing poppies; lest we forget. I wear the poppy a few weeks before November 11th. It is still common here in Canada among us older ones.
Paper red poppies are distributed around Veterans Day in USA. Donations accepted and worn with reverence by Veterans.