Editing In Flanders Fields

{{short description|First World War poem by John McCrae}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=April 2017}}
{{good article}}
[[File:Johnmccraememorialbookcloseup02.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Inscription of the complete poem in a bronze book at the John McCrae memorial at his [[McCrae House|birthplace]] in [[Guelph, Ontario]]|alt=A sculpture in the form of an open book. The text of the poem "In Flanders Fields" is written within and a small red poppy lies on top.]]
{{Infobox poem
| name              = In Flanders Fields
| author            = [[John McCrae]]
| publication_date  = December 8, 1915
| first             = [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'']]
| form              = [[Rondeau (forme fixe)|Rondeau]]
}}

"'''In Flanders Fields'''" is a [[war poet|war poem]] in the form of a [[rondeau (forme fixe)|rondeau]], written during the [[World War I|First World War]] by Canadian physician [[Lieutenant Colonel (Canada)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] [[John McCrae]]. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant [[Alexis Helmer]], who died in the [[Second Battle of Ypres]]. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially dissatisfied with his work, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published on December 8 of that year in the [[London]] magazine [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'']]. [[Flanders Fields]] is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in Belgium and France.

It is one of the most quoted poems from the war. As a result of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used in efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise money selling [[war bond]]s. Its references to the [[Papaver rhoeas|red poppies]] that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the [[remembrance poppy]] becoming one of the world's most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy are prominent [[Remembrance Day]] symbols throughout the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], particularly in Canada, where "In Flanders Fields" is one of the nation's best-known literary works. The poem is also widely known in the United States, where it is associated with [[Veterans Day]] and [[Memorial Day (United States)|Memorial Day]].

==Background==
[[File:Lieut.-Col. John McCrae, M.D..jpg|thumb|right|Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was a soldier, physician and poet.|alt=Upper body of a man in a soldier's uniform. He has short dark hair parted in the middle and maintains a neutral expression.]]

[[John McCrae]] was a poet and physician from [[Guelph, Ontario]]. He developed an interest in poetry at a young age and wrote throughout his life.<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=11}}</ref> His earliest works were published in the mid-1890s in Canadian magazines and newspapers.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/firstwar/mccrae/earlyyears |title=The early years |publisher=Veterans Affairs Canada |access-date=2012-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307040419/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/firstwar/mccrae/earlyyears |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> McCrae's poetry often focused on death and the peace that followed.<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=21}}</ref>

At the age of 41, McCrae enrolled with the [[Canadian Expeditionary Force]] following the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]]. He had the option of joining the [[Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps|medical corps]] because of his training and age but he volunteered instead to join a fighting unit as a gunner and medical officer.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillmor|2001|pp=91–92}}</ref> It was his second tour of duty in the Canadian military; he had previously fought with a volunteer force in the [[Second Boer War]].<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=31}}</ref> He considered himself a soldier first; his father was a military leader in Guelph and McCrae grew up believing in the duty of fighting for his country and [[British Empire|empire]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bassett|1984|p=14}}</ref>

McCrae fought in the [[Second Battle of Ypres]] in the [[Flanders]] region of Belgium, where the German army launched one of the first [[Chemical weapons in World War I|chemical attacks]] in the history of war. They attacked French positions north of the Canadians with [[chlorine#Use as a weapon|chlorine gas]] on April 22, 1915, but were unable to break through the Canadian line, which held for over two weeks. In a letter written to his mother, McCrae described the battle as a "nightmare",

{{quote|For seventeen days and seventeen nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots even, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds&nbsp;... And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way.|McCrae<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/firstwar/mccrae/flanders |title=In Flanders Fields |publisher=Veterans Affairs Canada |access-date=2012-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007202546/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/firstwar/mccrae/flanders |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}

Alexis Helmer, a close friend, was killed during the battle on May 2. McCrae performed the burial service himself, where he noticed how [[poppy|poppies]] quickly grew around the graves of those who died at Ypres. The next day, he composed the poem while sitting in the back of an ambulance at an Advanced Dressing Station outside Ypres.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillmor|2001|p=93}}</ref> This place has since become known as the [[Site John McCrae|John McCrae Memorial Site]].

==Poem==

[[File:In Flanders fields and other poems, handwritten.png|thumb|right|An autographed copy of the poem from ''In Flanders Fields and Other Poems''. Unlike the printed copy in the same book, McCrae's handwritten version ends the first line with "grow".|alt=The poem handwritten by McCrae. In this copy, the first line ends with "grow", differing from the original printed version.]]

''In Flanders Fields and Other Poems'', a 1919 collection of McCrae's works, contains two versions of the poem:
a [[:File:In Flanders Fields and other poems page 3.png|printed text]] as below and a [[:File:In Flanders fields and other poems, handwritten.png|handwritten copy]] where the first line ends with "grow" instead of "blow", as discussed under ''[[#Publication|Publication]]'':<ref>{{cite book |last=McCrae |first=John |author-link= John McCrae |date= 1919 |title= In Flanders Fields and Other Poems | url=https://archive.org/details/inflandersfields00mccr_0/page/3/mode/1up |location= New York |publisher= G. P. Putnam's Sons |page=3}}</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>
{{block indent|'''In Flanders Fields'''}}
In Flanders fields, the poppies {{tooltip|blow|printed thus; handwritten as 'grow'}}
     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.
</poem>}}

[[File:In flanders fields.ogg|thumb|A reading of "In Flanders Fields"]]

As with his earlier poems, "In Flanders Fields" continues McCrae's preoccupation with death and how it stands as the transition between the struggle of life and the peace that follows.<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=106}}</ref>  It is written from the point of view of the dead. It speaks of their sacrifice and serves as their command to the living to press on.<ref name="NYT1921" /> As with many of the most popular works of the First World War, it was written early in the conflict, before the romanticism of war turned to bitterness and disillusion for soldiers and civilians alike.<ref name="Prescott105" />

An article by Veteran's Administration Canada provides this account of the writing of ''In Flanders Fields'':<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/Detail/84214 |title=In memory of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=VAC |access-date=11 December 2019 }}</ref><blockquote>The day before he wrote his famous poem, one of McCrae's closest friends was killed in the fighting and buried in a makeshift grave with a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies were already beginning to bloom between the crosses marking the many graves. Unable to help his friend or any of the others who had died, John McCrae gave them a voice through his poem. It was the second last poem he was to write.</blockquote>

==Publication==
[[File:In Flanders Fields (1921) page 1.png|thumb|right|Illustrated page by Ernest Clegg. Note that the first line ends with "grow".|alt=A page from a book. The first stanza of the poem is printed above an illustration of a white cross amidst a field of red poppies while two cannons fire in the background.]]

Cyril Allinson was a [[sergeant major]] in McCrae's unit. While delivering the brigade's mail, he watched McCrae as he worked on the poem, noting that McCrae's eyes periodically returned to Helmer's grave as he wrote. When handed the notepad, Allinson read the poem and was so moved he immediately committed it to memory. He described it as being "almost an exact description of the scene in front of us both".<ref name="Leader-Post1968">{{citation |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_-lUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3692,1914652 |title=Poem depicts war scenes |work=Regina Leader-Post |date=1968-11-12 |access-date=2012-02-07 |page=13}}</ref> According to legend, McCrae was not satisfied with his work. It is said he crumpled the paper and threw it away.<ref name="JournalOpinion2006">{{citation |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sc4kAAAAIBAJ&pg=816,694462 |title=Forever there... In Flanders Fields |work=The Journal Opinion |date=2006-03-29 |access-date=2012-02-07 |page=8}}</ref> It was retrieved by a fellow member of his unit, either [[Edward Morrison (Canadian Army officer)|Edward Morrison]] or J. M. Elder,<ref name="AustralianArmy">{{citation |url=http://www.army.gov.au/traditions/documents/inflandersfield_1.htm |title=The Red Poppy |publisher=The Australian Army |access-date=2012-02-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226023637/http://www.army.gov.au/traditions/documents/inflandersfield_1.htm |archive-date=February 26, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> or Allinson.<ref name="JournalOpinion2006" /> McCrae was convinced to submit the poem for publication.<ref name="Prescott96">{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=96}}</ref> An early copy of the poem is found in the diary of Clare Gass, who was serving with McCrae as a battlefield nurse, in an entry dated October 30, 1915—nearly six weeks before the poem's first publication in the magazine ''Punch'' on December 8, 1915.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/clare-gass-fonds|title=Clare Gass Fonds|website=McGill Library Archival Catalogue|language=en|access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref>

Another story of the poem's origin claimed that Helmer's funeral was held on the morning of May 2, after which McCrae wrote the poem in 20 minutes. A third claim, by Morrison, was that McCrae worked on the poem as time allowed between arrivals of wounded soldiers in need of medical attention.<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|pp=95–96}}</ref> Regardless of its true origin, McCrae worked on the poem for months before considering it ready for publication.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillmor|2001|p=94}}</ref> He submitted it to ''[[The Spectator]]'' in London but it was rejected. It was then sent to ''Punch'', where it was published on December 8, 1915.<ref name="Prescott96" /> It was published anonymously, but ''Punch'' attributed the poem to McCrae in its year-end index.<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=105}}</ref>

The word that ends the first line of the poem has been disputed. According to Allinson, the poem began with "In Flanders Fields the poppies grow" when first written.<ref name="Leader-Post1968" /> McCrae ended the second-to-last line with "grow", ''Punch'' received permission to change the wording of the opening line to end with "blow". McCrae used either word when making handwritten copies for friends and family.<ref>{{citation |last=Brennan |first=Pat |url=https://www.thestar.com/travel/northamerica/article/723376--guelph-house-commemorates-flanders-poet-mccrae |title=Guelph house commemorates Flanders' poet McCrae |work=Toronto Star |date=2009-11-10 |access-date=2012-02-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.library.mcgill.ca/osler-library/in-flanders-fields-2/|title='In Flanders fields' at the Osler Library|last=Dysert|first=Anna|website=De re medica : News from the Osler Library of the History of Medicine|date=November 11, 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-02-13}}</ref> Questions over how the first line should end have endured since publication. Most recently, the [[Bank of Canada]] was inundated with queries and complaints from those who believed the first line should end with "grow", when a design for the [[Canadian ten-dollar bill|ten-dollar bill]] was released in 2001, with the first stanza of "In Flanders Fields", ending the first line with "blow".<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-11-mn-23881-story.html |title=Flanders poppies blow up furor in Canada |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2001-02-11 |access-date=2012-02-11 |page=A38}}</ref>

==Popularity==
[[File:If Ye Break Faith - Victory bonds poster.jpg|thumb|right|Aspects of the poem were used in propaganda, such as this Canadian war bonds poster|alt=Painting of a soldier staring down at a white cross surrounded by red poppies. The text "If ye break faith ~ we shall not sleep" and "Buy Victory Bonds" are written at the top and bottom respectively.]]

According to historian [[Paul Fussell]], "In Flanders Fields" was the most popular poem of its era.<ref name="Fussell315" /> McCrae received numerous letters and telegrams praising his work when he was revealed as the author.<ref name="NYTimes1938">{{citation |last=Ragner |first=Bernhard |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/01/30/archives/a-tribute-in-flanders-fields-john-mccrae-author-of-the-perfect-war.html |title=A tribute in Flanders Fields |work=[[The New York Times]] Magazine |date=1938-01-30 |access-date=2012-02-07 |page=14}}</ref> The poem was republished throughout the world, rapidly becoming synonymous with the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the First World War.<ref name="NYT1921">{{citation |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0717F93E5D14738DDDA10994DA415B818EF1D3 |title=In Flanders Fields |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1921-12-18 |access-date=2012-02-07}}</ref> It was translated into numerous languages, so many that McCrae himself quipped that "it needs only Chinese now, surely".<ref>{{harvnb|Bassett|1984|p=50}}</ref> Its appeal was nearly universal. Soldiers took encouragement from it as a statement of their duty to those who died while people on the home front viewed it as defining the cause for which their brothers and sons were fighting.<ref>{{harvnb|Bassett|1984|p=49}}</ref>

It was often used for propaganda, particularly in Canada by the [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist Party]] during the [[1917 Canadian federal election|1917 federal election]] amidst the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917|Conscription Crisis]]. [[French Canadian]]s in Quebec were strongly opposed to the possibility of [[conscription]] but [[English Canadian]]s voted overwhelmingly to support Prime Minister [[Robert Borden]] and the Unionist government. "In Flanders Fields" was said to have done more to "make this Dominion persevere in the duty of fighting for the world's ultimate peace than all the political speeches of the recent campaign".<ref name="Prescott125">{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=125}}</ref> McCrae, a staunch supporter of the empire and the war effort, was pleased with the effect his poem had on the election. He stated in a letter: "I hope I stabbed a [French] Canadian with my vote".<ref name="Prescott125" />

The poem was a popular motivational tool in Great Britain, where it was used to encourage soldiers fighting against Germany, and in the United States where it was reprinted across the country. It was one of the most quoted works during the war,<ref name="Prescott105">{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|pp=105–106}}</ref> used in many places as part of campaigns to sell [[war bond]]s, during recruiting efforts and to criticize [[pacifism|pacifists]] and those who sought to profit from the war.<ref name="Prescott133">{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=133}}</ref> At least 55 composers in the United States set the poem "In Flanders Fields" to music by 1920, including [[Charles Ives]], [[Arthur Foote]], and [[John Philip Sousa]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Jennifer A. |title=American Musical Settings of "In Flanders Fields" and the Great War |journal=Journal of Musicological Research |date=13 March 2014 |volume=33 |issue=1–3 |pages=96–129 |doi=10.1080/01411896.2014.878566 |s2cid=161990222 |ref=Ward 2014}}</ref> The setting by Ives, which premiered in early 1917, is perhaps the earliest American setting.<ref>{{citation |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200035609/default.html |title=In Flanders Fields (Song Collection) |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=2012-02-20}}</ref> Fussell criticized the poem in his work ''The Great War and Modern Memory'' (1975).<ref name="Fussell315">{{harvnb|Fussell|2009|p=315}}</ref> He noted the distinction between the [[pastoral]] tone of the first nine lines and the "recruiting-poster rhetoric" of the third stanza. Describing it as "vicious" and "stupid", Fussell called the final lines a "propaganda argument against a negotiated peace".<ref>{{harvnb|Fussell|2009|pp=314–315}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Vimy_Memorial_war_recruitment_poster.jpg|thumb|The [[Vimy Memorial]] and part of "In Flanders Fields" on a Second World War recruitment poster]]
McCrae was moved to the medical corps and stationed in [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]], France, in June 1915 where he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and placed in charge of medicine at the Number 3 Canadian General Hospital.<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1985|p=101}}</ref> He was promoted to the acting rank of [[colonel]] on January 13, 1918, and named Consulting Physician to the British Armies in France. The years of war had worn McCrae down; he contracted [[pneumonia]] that day and later came down with [[meningitis|cerebral meningitis]]. On January 28, 1918, he died at the military hospital in [[Wimereux]] and was buried there with full military honours.<ref>{{harvnb|Bassett|1984|pp=59–60}}</ref> A book of his works, featuring "In Flanders Fields", was published the following year.<ref name="BreakingFaith">{{citation |last=Holmes |first=Nancy |url=http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/scl/article/view/15269/16346 |title="In Flanders Fields" – Canada's Official Poem: Breaking Faith |journal=Studies in Canadian Literature |publisher=University of New Brunswick |year=2005 |volume=30 |issue=1 |access-date=2012-02-11}}</ref>

[[File:Shubenacadie Cenotaph.jpg|thumb|left|''To you from failing hands we throw / The torch; be yours to hold it high.'' – cenotaph sculpture, [[Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia]]]]
"In Flanders Fields" is very popular in Canada, where it is a staple of [[Remembrance Day]] ceremonies and may be the best-known literary piece among English Canadians.<ref name="BreakingFaith" /> It has an official French adaptation, entitled [[:fr:Au champ d'honneur|"Au champ d'honneur"]], written by Jean Pariseau and used by the Canadian government in French and bilingual ceremonies.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/fra/histoire/premiereguerre/vimy/poeme |title=Le Canada pendant la Première Guerre mondiale et la route vers la crête de Vimy |language=fr |publisher=Veterans Affairs Canada |access-date=2012-02-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026074045/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/fra/histoire/premiereguerre/vimy/poeme |archive-date=October 26, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> With an excerpted appearance on the ten-dollar bill from 2001 to 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint has released poppy-themed [[Quarter (Canadian coin)|quarters]] on several occasions. A version minted in 2004 featured a red poppy in the centre and is considered the first multi-coloured circulation coin in the world.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.mint.ca/store/campaign/poppy_tab2.jsp |title=A symbol of remembrance |publisher=Royal Canadian Mint |access-date=2012-02-11 |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918001530/http://www.mint.ca/store/campaign/poppy_tab2.jsp |url-status=dead }}</ref> To mark the poem's centennial in 2015, a coloured and uncoloured poppy quarter and a "toonie" ($2 coin) were issued as circulation coins, as well as other collector coins.<ref>[http://www.mint.ca/store/product/rcmcoins.jsp?campaignName=CirculationPoppy&pId=3600018&lang=en_CA Never forget with the 2015 Remembrance coins], Royal Canadian Mint order form, October 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.mint.ca/store/news/royal-canadian-mint-commemorates-100th-anniversary-of-in-flanders-fields-with-silver-collector-coins-24700040?cat=News+releases&nId=700002&parentnId=600004&nodeGroup=About+the+Mint Royal Canadian Mint Commemorates 100th Anniversary of In Flanders Fields with Silver Collector Coins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074502/http://www.mint.ca/store/news/royal-canadian-mint-commemorates-100th-anniversary-of-in-flanders-fields-with-silver-collector-coins-24700040?cat=News+releases&nId=700002&parentnId=600004&nodeGroup=About+the+Mint |date=March 4, 2016 }} Royal Canadian Mint news release, April 30, 2015</ref> Among its uses in popular culture, the lines "to you from failing hands we throw / the torch, be yours to hold it high" has served as a motto for the [[Montreal Canadiens]] hockey club since 1940.<ref>{{citation |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/clips/16401/ |title=Last game at the Montreal Forum |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=2012-02-11}}</ref>

[[File:John-mccrae-1968-canada-stamp.jpg|thumb|1968 Canada stamp honouring John McCrae]][[Canada Post]] honoured the 50th anniversary of John McCrae's death with a stamp in 1968 and marked the centennial of his famous poem in 2015. Other Canadian stamps have featured the poppy, including ones in 1975, 2001, 2009,<ref name="MyUser_Https:_November_12_2015c">{{cite web |url=https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2009/2009_Lest_We_Forget.jsf |title=Lest We Forget |newspaper=Canada Post |access-date=November 12, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117025041/https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2009/2009_Lest_We_Forget.jsf |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> 2013 and 2014. Other postal authorities have employed the poppy as a symbol of remembrance, including those of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.<ref name="MyUser_Https:_November_12_2015d">{{cite web |url=https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/consumer/details.page?article=2015/04/29/in_flanders_fields_s&cattype=Consumer&cat=mailandmore |title=In Flanders Fields stamp issue |newspaper=Canada Post |date=April 29, 2015  |access-date= November 12, 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Mccrea house museum Guelph 3749.jpg|thumb|The birthplace of John McCrae in Guelph, Ontario]]
[[McCrae House|McCrae's birthplace]] in Guelph, Ontario has been converted into a museum dedicated to his life and the war.<ref>{{citation |last=Hill |first=Valerie |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/498773431.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS |title=Lest We Forget McCrae House keeps realities of war alive |work=Kitchener Record |date=1998-11-07 |access-date=2012-02-20 }}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> McCrae was named a [[Persons of National Historic Significance|National Historic Person]] in 1946, and his house was listed as a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site]] in 1966.<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1206 McCrae, Lieutenant-Colonel John National Historic Person], Parks Canada, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=378 McCrae House National Historic Site], Parks Canada, 2012</ref>
[[File:John McCrae, Essex Farm Military Cemetery.jpg|thumb|right|The monument commemorating "In Flanders Fields" at [[Essex Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery]] near Ypres.]]
In Belgium, the [[In Flanders Fields Museum]] in [[Ypres]], named after the poem and devoted to the First World War, is situated in one of Flanders' largest tourist areas.<ref>{{citation |url=http://kw.knack.be/west-vlaanderen/nieuws/algemeen/nieuw-streekbezoekerscentrum-ieper-officieel-geopend/article-4000039582184.htm |title=Nieuw streekbezoekerscentrum Ieper officieel geopend |language=nl |publisher=Knack.be |date=2012-02-05 |access-date=2012-02-13 |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207160654/http://kw.knack.be/west-vlaanderen/nieuws/algemeen/nieuw-streekbezoekerscentrum-ieper-officieel-geopend/article-4000039582184.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> A monument commemorating the writing of the poem is located at [[Essex Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery]], which is thought to have been the location of Helmer's burial and lies within the John McCrae Memorial Site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/ieper/essex-farm/lieutenant-colonel-mccrae.php |title=Ieper (Ypres) – Belgium – Nearby site: Essex Farm Cemetery, Boezinge – Lieutenant Colonel McCrae |date=July 2013 |website=www.ww1westernfront.gov.au |publisher=Department of Veterans' Affairs and Board of Studies, New South Wales |access-date=8 April 2016 |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307155932/http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/ieper/essex-farm/lieutenant-colonel-mccrae.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite its fame, "In Flanders Fields" is often ignored by academics teaching and discussing [[Canadian literature]].<ref name="BreakingFaith" /> The poem is sometimes viewed as an [[anachronism]]; it spoke of glory and honour in a war that has since become synonymous with the futility of trench warfare and the slaughter produced by 20th-century weaponry.<ref name="Prescott133" /> [[Nancy Holmes]], professor at the [[University of British Columbia]], speculated that its patriotic nature and use as a tool for propaganda may have led literary critics to view it as a [[national symbol]] or anthem rather than a poem.<ref name="BreakingFaith" />

===Remembrance poppies===
{{main|Remembrance poppy}}
The [[Papaver rhoeas|red poppies]] that McCrae referred to had been associated with conflict since the [[Napoleonic Wars]] when a writer of that time first noted how the poppies grew over the graves of soldiers.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/remembrance-day-lest-we-forget-1.725730 |title=Remembrance Day: Lest we forget |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=2010-11-10 |access-date=2012-02-08}}</ref> The damage done to the landscape in Flanders during the battle greatly increased the lime content in the surface soil, leaving the poppy as one of the few plants able to grow in the region.<ref name="BBCPoppy2006">{{citation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6133312.stm |title=Where did the idea to sell poppies come from? |work=BBC News |date=2006-11-10 |access-date=2012-02-08}}</ref>

Inspired by "In Flanders Fields", American professor [[Moina Michael]] resolved at the war's conclusion in 1918 to wear a [[Papaver rhoeas|red poppy]] year-round to honour the soldiers who had died in the war. She also wrote a poem in response called "[[We Shall Keep the Faith]]".<ref>{{citation |url=http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/mmichael.htm |title=Moina Michael |publisher=Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=2012-02-08}}</ref> She distributed silk poppies to her peers and campaigned to have them adopted as an official symbol of remembrance by the [[American Legion]]. Madame E. Guérin attended the 1920 convention where the Legion supported Michael's proposal and was inspired to sell poppies in her native France to raise money for the war's orphans.<ref name="BBCPoppy2011">{{citation |last=Rahman |first=Rema |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15637074 |title=Who, What, Why: Which countries wear poppies? |work=BBC News |date=2011-11-09 |access-date=2012-02-08}}</ref> In 1921, Guérin sent poppy sellers to London ahead of [[Armistice Day]], attracting the attention of [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Douglas Haig]]. A co-founder of [[The Royal British Legion]], Haig supported and encouraged the sale.<ref name="BBCPoppy2006" /> The practice quickly spread throughout the British Empire. The wearing of poppies in the days leading up to [[Remembrance Day]] remains popular in many areas of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], particularly United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and in the days leading up to [[ANZAC Day]] in Australia and New Zealand.<ref name="BBCPoppy2011" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Australia|Canada|New Zealand|South Africa|United Kingdom}}
* [[1915 in poetry]]
* [[Military history of Canada during World War I]]
* "[[The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino]]"

==References==
'''Footnotes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Bassett |first=John |year=1984 |title=The Canadians: John McCrae |publisher=Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited |location=Markham, Ontario |isbn=0-88902-651-3}}
* {{citation |last=Fussell |first=Paul |year=2009 |orig-year=1975 |title=The Great War and Modern Memory (Illustrated Edition)|publisher=Stirling Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-513331-8}}
* {{Citation |last=Gillmor |first=Don |year=2001 |title=Canada: A People's History |isbn=0-7710-3340-0 |volume=two |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |location=Toronto, Ontario |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/canadapeopleshis0000gill }}
* {{citation |last=McCrae |first=John |year=1919 |title=In Flanders Fields and Other Poems |url={{Google books|TecjwVOo5GsC|page=PP1|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=Arcturus Publishing (reprint 2008) |isbn=1-84193-994-3 |access-date=2012-02-07}}
* {{citation|last=Prescott |first=John F. |year=1985 |title=In Flanders Fields: The Story of John McCrae |publisher=Boston Mills Press |location=Erin, Ontario |isbn=0-919783-07-4}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource}}
{{commons category}}
* {{FadedPage|id=20151207|name=In Flanders Fields And Other Poems}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511063341/http://legion.ca/Poppy/campaign_e.cfm Royal Canadian Legion] web page about John McCrae, "In Flanders Fields", and the custom of wearing poppies
* [http://www.gladdemusic.com/inflandersfields(2).htm In Flanders Fields], choral piece by composer Bradley Nelson, commissioned by Fresno State Chamber Singers and Chico State Chamber Singers of California State University
* [http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-1918FLANDERSVS&R=DC-1918FLANDERSVS In Flander's fields by Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. and America's answer by R. W. Lillard, 1914–1918]. Hamilton, Ont. : Commercial Engravers, 1918. 8 p. Accessed 4 January 2014, in PDF format.
* {{librivox book | title=In Flanders Fields | author=John MCCRAE}}
* [http://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/andrew-macphail-fonds Andrew Macphail Fonds] McGill University Library & Archives.
* [http://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/clare-gass-fonds Clare Gass Fonds] McGill University Library & Archives.

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:In Flanders Fields}}
[[Category:1915 poems]]
[[Category:Canadian poems]]
[[Category:Military history of Canada]]
[[Category:Poems set in Flanders]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Punch (magazine)]]
[[Category:World War I poems]]
[[Category:World War I propaganda]]
[[Category:Poems about nature]]
[[Category:Poems about death]]