In Flanders Fields

John McCrae, May 1915

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.

(Klik hier voor een drietal Nederlandese vertalingen)

Moina Michael

Toen een zekere Moina Michael dit gedicht had gelezen beloofde zij zich zelf om de moed erin te houden en voelde zij zich gedwongen om de belogte om te schrijven. Haastig schreef zij op de achterkant van een gebruikte enveloppe een antwoord op het gedicht van McCrae “We Shall Keep the Faith” . Van die dag af legde zij de gelofte af een klaproos van de Vlaamse velden te dragen als herinnering aan de oorlog.

We Shall Keep the Faith

Moina Michael, November 1918

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

Referenties
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields-inspiration.htm

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/people/moina-belle-michael.htm

http://thechildrenswar.blogspot.nl/2012/11/the-poppy-lady-moina-belle-michael-and.html