In Flanders Fields and Other Poems Poem Text

In Flanders Fields and Other Poems Poem Text

'In Flanders Field':

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 flashing 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.

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