In Flanders Fields and Other Poems Part 1

In Flanders Fields and Other Poems.

by John McCrae.

In Flanders Fields

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.

The Anxious Dead

O guns, fall silent till the dead men hear Above their heads the legions pressing on: (These fought their fight in time of bitter fear, And died not knowing how the day had gone.)

O flas.h.i.+ng muzzles, pause, and let them see The coming dawn that streaks the sky afar; Then let your mighty chorus witness be To them, and Caesar, that we still make war.

Tell them, O guns, that we have heard their call, That we have sworn, and will not turn aside, That we will onward till we win or fall, That we will keep the faith for which they died.

Bid them be patient, and some day, anon, They shall feel earth enwrapt in silence deep; Shall greet, in wonderment, the quiet dawn, And in content may turn them to their sleep.

The Warrior

He wrought in poverty, the dull grey days, But with the night his little lamp-lit room Was bright with battle flame, or through a haze Of smoke that stung his eyes he heard the boom Of Bluecher's guns; he shared Almeida's scars, And from the close-packed deck, about to die, Looked up and saw the "Birkenhead"'s tall spars Weave wavering lines across the Southern sky:

Or in the stifling 'tween decks, row on row, At Aboukir, saw how the dead men lay; Charged with the fiercest in Busaco's strife, Brave dreams are his -- the flick'ring lamp burns low -- Yet couraged for the battles of the day He goes to stand full face to face with life.

Isandlwana

_Scarlet coats, and crash o' the band, The grey of a pauper's gown, A soldier's grave in Zululand, And a woman in Brecon Town._

My little lad for a soldier boy, (Mothers o' Brecon Town!) My eyes for tears and his for joy When he went from Brecon Town, His for the flags and the gallant sights His for the medals and his for the fights, And mine for the dreary, rainy nights At home in Brecon Town.

They say he's laid beneath a tree, (Come back to Brecon Town!) Shouldn't I know? -- I was there to see: (It's far to Brecon Town!) It's me that keeps it trim and drest With a briar there and a rose by his breast -- The English flowers he likes the best That I bring from Brecon Town.

And I sit beside him -- him and me, (We're back to Brecon Town.) To talk of the things that used to be (Grey ghosts of Brecon Town); I know the look o' the land and sky, And the bird that builds in the tree near by, And times I hear the jackals cry, And me in Brecon Town.

_Golden grey on miles of sand The dawn comes creeping down; It's day in far off Zululand And night in Brecon Town._

The Unconquered Dead

"... defeated, with great loss."

Not we the conquered! Not to us the blame Of them that flee, of them that basely yield; Nor ours the shout of victory, the fame Of them that vanquish in a stricken field.

That day of battle in the dusty heat We lay and heard the bullets swish and sing Like scythes amid the over-ripened wheat, And we the harvest of their garnering.

Some yielded, No, not we! Not we, we swear By these our wounds; this trench upon the hill Where all the sh.e.l.l-strewn earth is seamed and bare, Was ours to keep; and lo! we have it still.

We might have yielded, even we, but death Came for our helper; like a sudden flood The cras.h.i.+ng darkness fell; our painful breath We drew with gasps amid the choking blood.

The roar fell faint and farther off, and soon Sank to a foolish humming in our ears, Like crickets in the long, hot afternoon Among the wheat fields of the olden years.

Before our eyes a boundless wall of red Shot through by sudden streaks of jagged pain!

Then a slow-gathering darkness overhead And rest came on us like a quiet rain.

Not we the conquered! Not to us the shame, Who hold our earthen ramparts, nor shall cease To hold them ever; victors we, who came In that fierce moment to our honoured peace.

The Captain

1797

_Here all the day she swings from tide to tide, Here all night long she tugs a rusted chain, A masterless hulk that was a s.h.i.+p of pride, Yet unashamed: her memories remain._

It was Nelson in the 'Captain', Cape St. Vincent far alee, With the 'Vanguard' leading s'uth'ard in the haze -- Little Jervis and the Spaniards and the fight that was to be, Twenty-seven Spanish battles.h.i.+ps, great bullies of the sea, And the 'Captain' there to find her day of days.

Right into them the 'Vanguard' leads, but with a sudden tack The Spaniards double swiftly on their trail; Now Jervis overshoots his mark, like some too eager pack, He will not overtake them, haste he e'er so greatly back, But Nelson and the 'Captain' will not fail.

Like a tigress on her quarry leaps the 'Captain' from her place, To lie across the fleeing squadron's way: Heavy odds and heavy onslaught, gun to gun and face to face, Win the s.h.i.+p a name of glory, win the men a death of grace, For a little hold the Spanish fleet in play.

Ended now the "Captain"'s battle, stricken sore she falls aside Holding still her foemen, beaten to the knee: As the 'Vanguard' drifted past her, "Well done, 'Captain'," Jervis cried, Rang the cheers of men that conquered, ran the blood of men that died, And the s.h.i.+p had won her immortality.