John McCrae

thumb| Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (30 November 1872 – 28 January 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I. He is famous for writing the war memorial poem "In Flanders Fields". McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. His famous poem is a threnody, a genre of lament. Quotes thumb|right|If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,  That mark our place; and in the sky  The larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe 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. "In Flanders Fields" (wr. 3 May 1915), in Punch, vol. 149 (8 December 1915), p. 468, col. 3. The 'blow' in l. 1 was printed thus; handwritten as 'grow' Cf. Charles Burleigh Galbreath In Flanders Fields and Other Poems (1919) New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons 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. "The Unconquered Dead", st. 2. From the University Magazine (1906) 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 Anxious Dead", st. 4. From The Spectator (1917) Men pass my grave, and say, "'Twere well to sleep, Like such an one, amid the uncaring dead!" How should they know the vigils that I keep,          The tears I shed? "Penance", st. 2. From the Canadian Magazine (1896) Like restless birds, the breath of coming rain Creeps, lilac-laden, up the village street. "Then and Now", l. 8. From Massey's Magazine'' (1896) The earth grows white with harvest; all day long    The sickles gleam, until the darkness weaves Her web of silence o'er the thankful song    Of reapers bringing home the golden sheaves. The wave tops whiten on the sea fields drear,    And men go forth at haggard dawn to reap; But ever 'mid the gleaners' song we hear    The half-hushed sobbing of the hearts that weep. "The Harvest of the Sea" External links Brief biography at the Guelph Civic Museum Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online John_McCrae John McCrae 353 In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems John McCrae in Flanders Fields — Historical Essay, illustrated with many photographs of John McCrae Free audiobook of "In Flanders Fields" from LibriVox Burial record with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Category:Academics from Canada Category:Physicians from Canada Category:Artists from Canada Category:Soldiers Category:Canadian Presbyterians Category:Poets from Ontario Category:1872 births Category:1918 deaths