What does the first stanza of In Flanders Fields mean?

What does the first stanza of In Flanders Fields mean?

Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; The opening lines of “In Flanders Fields” introduce the setting of a field in a northern region of Belgium, where beautiful flowers (“poppies”) grow amid many graves (“the crosses, row on row”). The very first line introduces the key symbol of the poppy.

What is the main message of In Flanders Fields?

The theme of this poem is that the living must continue to flight for the soldiers killed in the war. McCrae, writing about World War I, describes the poppies that blow across the field of graves and the larks that float above. The dead, who were alive only a short time before, are now buried in Flanders Fields.

What is the story of Flanders Field?

From 1914 to 1918, Flanders Fields was a major battle theatre on the Western Front during the First World War. A million soldiers from more than 50 different countries were wounded, missing or killed in action here. Entire cities and villages were destroyed, their population scattered across Europe and beyond.

What are the words to In Flanders Field?

In Flanders Fields

• In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky.
• We are the Dead. Short days ago. We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
• Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw. The torch; be yours to hold it high.

What does If ye break faith mean?

break faith with (someone or something) To fail to act as one has promised. After promising so much, the candidate will be in danger of breaking faith with the many groups she courted on the campaign trail. See also: break, faith.

How does Flanders Field represent war?

The poem pays tribute to the dead soldiers, who lost the battle of their lives while defending their country in war. The popularity of the poem lies in the fact that it shows the vulnerability of life and also how ‘poppy’ flowers have become a symbol of honor to the fallen soldiers in World War One and Two.

How many soldiers died at Flanders Field?

Only taking into account the period between 31 July and 12 November (the duration of the Third Battle of Ieper according to British military historians) Flanders Fields arrives at a figure of over 600,000 fatalities.

What does If ye break faith we shall not sleep?

“if ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep…”: the suggestion is of a curse on those who do not remember the dead; an old and powerful idea. “Though poppies grow…” reminds us the somnolent (sleep-inducing) power of the poppy.

Who is guilty of breaking faith?

Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all. But someone will say, “ One person has faith, another has actions.

What was the poem in Flanders Fields about?

“In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae is a well-known, and much revered, poem concerning the many lived lost in Flanders, Belgium during World War I. The poem begins by introducing the image of the poppy that has come to be closely associated with remembering World War I.

Where did John McCrae write in Flanders Fields?

At the start of World War I, McCrae was station in Ypres, Belgium, in the area of the country known as Flanders. During the way, one of McCrae’s closest friends was killed, and on the next day, seeing the battlefield graves filled with blooming poppy flowers, he was inspired to write “In Flanders Fields.”

Why are there so many crosses in Flanders Fields?

Amongst the crosses are other rows of poppies, blowing in the wind. The crosses represent the dead at Flanders, a battlefield in Belgium during World War I. Whether each cross does indeed mark a grave, is not made clear. Bodies were most likely lost in the chaos and the crosses have been erected as a memorial.

What was the name of the dog in Flanders Fields?

His friends spoke of his change in temperament in subdued voices, feeling, as one said, that an icon had been broken.” His inseparable companions were his horse, Bonfire, who had accompanied him to the front, and his dog, Bonneau, an adopted war orphan.