- The military imagery of the guns is in great contrast to the beautiful natural imagery that came before and is a shock as you realise that the deaths mentioned earlier are still happening.
Stanza 2
- This stanza is much shorter than the other 2 and most of the word are monosyllabic which means that it is read faster
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Line 1 - ‘We are the Dead.’ This states matter-of-factly whose point of view the poem is written from. This is surprising because the 1st stanza was all imagery and symbolism and this is very different. The statement is short, and abrupt, which makes it sound bitter.
- It is quite a shock because not many poems are written from this point of view and a lot of people don’t like to think about it at all.
- This abruptness perhaps symbolises the fact that nothing can be done to change this fact, as it is just that: a fact.
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‘Dead’ is capitalised, as though the poet is referring to all those who died as one collective person. People not in the war would probably refer to them like this, anonymously.
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Line 1 – ‘Short days ago’ this brings home the suddenness of death in war.
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Line 2– ‘We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow…’ this helps the reader to identify with the dead. It contrasts with the previous capitalisation of ‘Dead’ because it is reminds the reader of how these soldiers were all real people, who had feelings and watched sunsets.
- Sunsets are beautiful things very unlike the war. They appear to be an eternal cycle, which is very different to these peoples’ lives, and reminds us of our mortality.
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Line 3 – ‘Loved and were loved, and now we lie…’ ‘loved and were loved’ shows that the dead soldiers cared about people who cared about them, but it is in the past tense. This makes it sound as if now they are dead no-one cares about them. They are forgotten, which makes the next line yet more distressing:
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Line 4 – ‘In Flanders fields.’ This short, abrupt phrase breaks the regular rhythm, and is only 4 syllables long unlike all the previous lines. It ‘interrupts’ the poem, just as the soldiers’ lives were ‘interrupted’ by the war, (and by Flanders Fields, as this is where they were buried).
Stanza 3
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Line 1+ - ‘Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high…’ this tells us, and all other people left behind to carry on fighting, because they (the Dead) cannot.
- They are handing over the ‘torch’ of patriotism and honour, and do not want it to be extinguished as it also symbolises all the glory they fought and died for.
- These words are very patriotic and inspiring, and you can understand why so many went out to fight. However it is also surprising in the context that these soldiers who have died for their country can still feel so patriotic.
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Line 4-6 – ‘If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.’ These lines tell those left behind that if they do not carry on the fight, the Dead will never be able to rest in peace because they do not want to have died in vain.
- We now know the true and horrible reality of Flanders fields, and the beautiful imagery now seems almost out of place amid the suffering.
- The beauty seems much sadder now, as these soldiers’ lives are now over and they will have no other chance to feel the joys of this beauty again.
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Line 5 – ‘We shall not sleep, though poppies grow…’, This line is split into two phrases of 4 syllables each, instead of 8 all together, which makes everything feel as if it’s slowing down again.
- This could symbolise that the dead are more peaceful now that they have passed on their message. This line is also an inversion of the first line of the poem, and reminds the reader that while the poppies amongst the graves may appear pretty and peaceful, there is more to them than meets the eye.
The title is repeated throughout the poem with different images attached to it. At first it appears to be merely a beautiful natural image. It later changes to symbolise the much more bitter feelings of the men lying there.
The first line of the poem produces a ‘nice’ picture, which is calm, serene and pretty.
Then, the middle of the poem shows the horrors of war and makes the reader identify with those who died.
In the last line, the poem ‘flicks back’ to the first, and reminds the reader that though they may have thought that the poem was a picturesque view of war, there’s much more to it than poppies blowing in the breeze…
I love this poem because the imagery is so descriptive. The striking contrast between the military and natural imagery seems almost glossed over as if the guns, for example, are a normal occurrence, which is an alien thought for us in modern society. The Great War seems to be happening now, as the poem is mainly in the present tense. This is a very strange feeling because we have never lived through a world war and so do not have any idea of how these men may have felt.
I really like this poem, as it effectively portrays the war and helps me to identify with the soldiers. It is bittersweet and touching, with the comparisons between the pain of the war and the peaceful, flower-covered scene it left behind, making those who read it think about the sacrifices that the soldiers made. ‘In Flanders Fields’ is emotive, well-written, dramatic and famous for a good reason.
In this nursery-rhyme style poem reins a definite melancholy. The simple joys of life described such as feeling dawn and seeing sunset glow makes us appreciate those things we tend to take for granted. A feeling of guilt can be experienced when we are suddenly reminded of the death of these soldiers. Why are we still alive, and millions of soldiers dead just because of a war- a conflict between humans?
The last stanza gives us a feeling of responsibility- we must hold the torch of patriotism and honour high, with all due respect to those who suffered, died and whose bodies are now lying in Flanders fields.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae fought in the First World War in France as part of the Canadian army.
He wrote "In Flanders Fields" the day after presiding at the funeral of a friend and former student.
McCrae was to number among the 9,000,000 fatalities that the war would claim.
