In Flanders Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD • May 1915
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.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872–1918)
Canadian Army Medical Corps
Written 3 May 1915, after the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium
In solemn and abiding gratitude to all who gave their lives in service to our nation — that liberty might endure, and that we who follow might keep faith with those who fell.