“In Flanders Fields” Summary

“In Flanders Fields” Themes

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  Life, Death, and Nature

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  War and Responsibility

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “In Flanders Fields”

• Lines 1-3

  In Flanders fields the poppies blow
  Between the crosses, row on row,
      That mark our place;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-5

  and in the sky
      The larks, still bravely singing, fly
  Scarce heard amid the guns below.

  

  

  

  

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• Line 6

  We are the Dead.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-8

  Short days ago
  We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
      Loved and were loved,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 8-9

  and now we lie,
          In Flanders fields.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-12

  Take up our quarrel with the foe:
  To you from failing hands we throw
      The torch; be yours to hold it high.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-15

  If ye break faith with us who die
  We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
          In Flanders fields.

  

  

  

  

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“In Flanders Fields” Symbols

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  Poppies

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“In Flanders Fields” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Metonymy

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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“In Flanders Fields” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Flanders
• Larks
• Scarce
• Quarrel
• Break faith

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “In Flanders Fields”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“In Flanders Fields” Speaker

“In Flanders Fields” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “In Flanders Fields”

More “In Flanders Fields” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Real Flanders Fields — Look at photographs of the site where McCrae composed "In Flanders Fields."

  • "In Flanders Fields" Read by Leonard Cohen — Listen to a recording of musician and poet Leonard Cohen reading "In Flanders Fields" in 2015, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the poem's composition.

  • History of the Remembrance Poppy — Read more about the history of the remembrance poppies that "In Flanders Fields" inspired.

  • "In Flanders Fields" Set to Music — Listen to the poem set to music by composer Alexander Tilley, one of many musical settings of "In Flanders Fields."

  • World War I Poetry — Read a collection of World War I poetry organized by the editors of The Poetry Foundation, arranged chronologically to show how interpretations of the war changed across time.