Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day)

[Isaac Brock]

In Canada, Novemember 11th is the day of Remembrance much as it is in the rest of the commonweatlh. On the 11th day, of the 11th month, at the 11th hour the armistice was formally signed, ending Commonwealth hostilities in WW1. Let this day exist to remember the true cost of war and price we have paid for our freedom having being paid with the supreme sacrifice. Remember that war is and always will be abhorrent.

I am no poet, but let me share a poem with you that all Canadians (and most likely British and Australians as well) know, but you may never have heard called "In Flanders Fields"

IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

In Flanders field 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 with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

By Major John McCrae, May 1915

Lest We Forget - Je Me Souviens

 

[NightTrain]

Nice poem, Issac.

You were correct, this American at least had never been exposed to it.

 

[jimnyc]

Thanks for sharing, Isaac. Seems as though the gentleman who wrote this was a lieutenant colonel in the military. He wrote this poem after his best friend died in battle.

http://www.passingthetorch.ca/pttbioeng.html

 

[janeeng]

Very nice poem Isaac!!!!

 

[Isaac Brock]

Originally posted by jimnyc
Thanks for sharing, Isaac. Seems as though the gentleman who wrote this was a lieutenant colonel in the military. He wrote this poem after his best friend died in battle.

http://www.passingthetorch.ca/pttbioeng.html

Indeed jimmy, he was a field medic who seemed to have a flair for poetry targetted at the common man. A shame he didn't survive the war. His style was so engrossing that he could have become a literary giant in is own way.

Rest in peace.

 

[jimnyc]

I was actually quite touched about what I read about this guy. I would have loved to read more from him. Your right, it is a shame he didn't survive.

I was just reading a page about Wimereux Cemetery where he is buried, very sad.

 

[Isaac Brock]

It is indeed a terribly sad story. In a sense the way he died and beautiful frankness of his poetry made him a martyr for the senselessness of war. Perhaps it is indeed so fitting that so many people choose to remember our fallen, including him, under the literary shadow of his verse.