In Flanders Fields

[Northern_Piper]

Been away for a bit, and not very happy with the turn this thread has taken with silly Canadian nationalism! A good piece of literature surpasses petty nationalism.

Thanks for the reply to my early query as to why the poem was being posted now; I didn’t appreciate that there was a US commemoration at this time of the year.

Getting back to the discussion of the poem itself, some thirty years ago the editor of the Globe and Mail, Richard Doyle, wrote a column in the lead-up to Remembrance Day ceremonies that year where he repeated this comment which I have seen elsewhere:

The words that are not often recalled when McCrae is remembered are his comment to a Canadian chaplain that the “foe” mentioned in the line “take up our quarrel with the foe” was not intended to be the German or Austrian soldier; it was the spirit of warfare. Allied soldiers had been assured this was a war to end war. The torch was the will to realize this ideal.

Now, I realise that in the modern age of literary criticism, the author’s own intention in writing a poem can often be met with “So what?”, but I think it is a relevant point.

The conclusion of Doyle’s column is touching:

There is a postscript and Jane Dewar has used it in her current, poppy- splashed issue of Legion. It comes from the Oct. 3, 1983, issue of the London Standard. "Eighty-five-year-old Albert Spears, leaning slightly on his walking stick, stood in the doorway of the Old Cock pub on Fleet St. on Saturday morning and waited for his comrades, a ritual stretching back to 1919. "On Oct. 4 that year, 12 months after the third battle of the Somme and Passchendaele, 32 war-weary men gathered at the bar of the Cock, where they had celebrated their enlistment in Kitchener’s army . . . "Each year they have met and the pub has been closed to outsiders. In 1982, there were seven old soldiers at the bar. This year, Mr. Spears watched and waited, but no one came. "Mr. Spears was too upset to talk about it, but Pat Kelly, landlord of the Cock, found a few words: ‘To me they were all bloody heroes. It was an honor to have them in this house.’ " Oh yes, there will be some sleep in Flanders fields.

[carnivorousplant]

Wow.

[rsat3acr]

@carnivorousplant

I believe we get full credit for that.
:rolleyes:

No. Wouldn’t have happened without Pearl Harbor.

[carnivorousplant]

@rsat3acr

No. Wouldn’t have happened without Pearl Harbor.

Very true, and I risk changing the subject, but it saved many, many American lives.

[Captain_Amazing]

@Kropotkin

And there is Kipling’s poem,

If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

My son was killed while laughing at some jest. I would I knew
What it was, and it might serve me in a time when jests are few.

[BigT]

@Peanuthead

Memorial Day - To remember those who served in the military and are now dead.

Only in as much that George Washington’s Birthday (aka Presidents Day) is only about Washington. Memorial Day is the day when you remember your dead relatives, military or not.

And you left out Independence Day, where we once again honor our military, despite the day being about celebrating our existence as a country. It’s the one of those days that gets celebrated even at church.

[Lamar_Mundane]

@BigT

Only in as much that George Washington’s Birthday (aka Presidents Day) is only about Washington. Memorial Day is the day when you remember your dead relatives, military or not.

This has been mentioned several times in this thread. Where does this idea come from? It was originally called Decoration Day and is very specifically dedicated to the military.

[Your_Great_Darsh_Face]

@Captain_Amazing

My son was killed while laughing at some jest. I would I knew
What it was, and it might serve me in a time when jests are few.

And some more, just for those who think that Kipling was nothing but a jingoist and Imperialist:
“Equality of Sacrifice”

A. “I was a Have.” B. “I was a ‘Have-Not.’ ”
(Together). “What hast thou given which I gave not?”

*(I have a photo somewhere from a cemetery in Ieper where a general lies buried between two privates.) *

A Servant

We were together since the War began.
He was my servant—and the better man.
The Wonder

Body and Spirit I surrendered whole
To harsh Instructors—and received a soul . . .
If mortal man could change me through and through
From all I was—what may The God not do?
The Favour

Death favoured me from the first, well knowing I could not endure
To wait on him day by day. He quitted my betters and came
Whistling over the fields, and, when he had made all sure,
“Thy line is at end,” he said, “but at least I have saved its name.”

[Melbourne]

@Malthus

Rather, they were thinking something along the lines of ‘we must support our allies on the continent, or Germany/Austria will become absolutely dominant there - plus, we can’t have Germany trampling helpless Belgium like that’.

Something I only reacently realized, that was the whole point of Belgium. The courntry was created to be a DMZ between France and Germany, guaranteed by all powers.

[Malthus]

@Melbourne

Something I only reacently realized, that was the whole point of Belgium. The courntry was created to be a DMZ between France and Germany, guaranteed by all powers.

“Cockpit of Europe”.