November 14, 2005
A LATE VETERANS DAY ENTRY
Lexiphane.com has been non-functional for the past few months, but I
thought that Veterans Day was a significant enough holiday to attempt a
solitary post. In 1915, Lt. Colonel John McCrae MD wrote a poem in the
midst of one of the
href="http://www.greatwar.co.uk/westfront/ypsalient/ypresbattles/"
target=_blank">battles for the Ypres Salient. McCrae was a
battlefield surgeon during WWI, one of the bloodiest and most costly in
lives in human history. His poem, "In Flanders Field", gives voice to
veterans of all wars that their deaths not be in vain.
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.
A short history of the poem is available
href="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm"
target=_blank">here. May we have the fortitude to endure a
fraction of the hardships that people lived through nearly a century
ago.
Posted by Lexiphane at November 14, 2005 9:39 AM
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