Written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian soldier who served as an infantryman, then a doctor at a military hospital during the First World War. I've always liked 'In Flanders Fields' because it seems to portray the true tragedy of war beyond the battle and the frontlines, and without invoking any kind of divine being.
[i]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[/i]
The first stanza seems to me to describe the pointlessness and wastefulness of war.
"and in the sky / The larks, still bravely singing, fly / Scarce heard amid the guns below."
Though we are taught to hate the enemy, to fight and kill them, to die for ersatz causes created by politicians in power to rally the public, it matters not to nature, to the birds and animals, nor the universe at large. It achieves nothing and has little effect other than to provide the CEOs of military contractors with bonuses.
The imagery of the second stanza is most powerful. Imagine an end to your existence. Most of us are yet young, and we have a long way to go before we can truly die without regret, having seen, done, and otherwise experienced all we could. Think of the parents, lovers, sons and daughters who saw their children, partners, fathers and mothers leave, never to return. I know from experience that when one's life is in real danger, one's pulse quickens, every sense sharpens to a razor's edge, and time seems to slow. Your body seems to cling to life, to the senses, in defiance of death. Adrenaline shows you what it truly means to be alive.
And yet so many die without cause. The soldiers on either side seldom have anything personal against their enemies.
The final stanza is interesting to me, because despite what the first and second stanzas depict, the third seems to call for a steeling of resolve and a continued willingness to fight in order to honour the sacrifice of the dead. World War II was the only war I could name where the allied forces fought against a clear evil. Today, things are different. Our enemy is an idea, and we cannot win.
Still, I'm sure that 'In Flanders Fields" can be considered a classic because it still means the same to soldiers today as it did nearly a century ago.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Undescriptive thread title" - Greeman))[/highlight]
I remember reading that poem last year for school.
It's so profound yet generally symbolic that it can be interpreted and related to no matter what case.
[i]Wow that really wasn't that great
Maybe you should go find yourself a date.[/i]
i like this poem
[quote] And when he gets to Heaven
To St. Peter he will tell:
"One more Marine reporting, Sir --
I've served my time in Hell."
Sgt. James A. Donahue
United States Marine Corps.
First Marine Division (H-2-1) [/quote]
[QUOTE=Takkun10;19368766][i]Wow that really wasn't that great
Maybe you should go find yourself a date.[/i][/QUOTE]
[i]You're a dick[/i]
i've always been quite partial to that song by pink floyd
when the tigers broke free
haikus aren't easy
sometimes they don't make much sense
refrigerator
[QUOTE=SBD;19368895][i]You're a dick[/i][/QUOTE]
You think I don't know this?
Showing poetry to FP is like showing a monkey a dildo. They'll just cover it in shit.
What?
[QUOTE=SBD;19368895][i]You're a dick[/i][/QUOTE]
you are a big dick
my flatulence smells like shit
i like to fuck goats
[i]If you are able, save for them a place inside of you
and save one backward glance when you are leaving
for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them,
though you may or may not have always.
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call war insane,
take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.[/i]
MAJ Michael O'Donnell. Written several months before he was killed in Vietnam in 1970.
Though this emoticon is not Canadian to fit this poem :patriot:
As a matter of fact, that poem can go for any soldier from any country, can't it?
Except for Nazis.
[QUOTE=Sihav;19373093]Though this emoticon is not Canadian to fit this poem :patriot:
As a matter of fact, that poem can go for any soldier from any country, can't it?
Except for Nazis.[/QUOTE]
Because Nazi's totally were neither humans nor brainwashed by their government to think that jews were the scum of the earth. They didn't have friends and family, heck not even feelings. They ate kitten and puppy cereal for breakfast and washed it all down with a big cup of virgin blood. They had crazy orgies whenever they weren't fighting and they often killed their parents as a rite of passage to adulthood.
I read the title .... "Best war porn I've ever read"... :v:
[QUOTE=Kazumi;19373133]Because Nazi's totally were neither humans nor brainwashed by their government to think that jews were the scum of the earth. They didn't have friends and family, heck not even feelings. They ate kitten and puppy cereal for breakfast and washed it all down with a big cup of virgin blood. They had crazy orgies whenever they weren't fighting and they often killed their parents as a rite of passage to adulthood.[/QUOTE]
Does their "brainwashing" justify what they did?
That aside, SOME Nazis, I would like to imagine, did not believe wholly in what they were doing while others did. And The anti-Nazis definitely believed in what they were fighting for. It was not a completely faceless war, though the soldiers are often victims too.
Oh shut up this is an awesome poem
[QUOTE=Kazumi;19373133]Because Nazi's totally were neither humans nor brainwashed by their government to think that jews were the scum of the earth. They didn't have friends and family, heck not even feelings. They ate kitten and puppy cereal for breakfast and washed it all down with a big cup of virgin blood. They had crazy orgies whenever they weren't fighting and they often killed their parents as a rite of passage to adulthood.[/QUOTE]
you know there's sarcasm and then there's overdoing it
[QUOTE]ANZAC Day
I saw a kid marchin’ with medals on his chest.
He marched alongside Diggers marching six abreast.
He knew that it was ANZAC Day - he walked along with pride.
He did his best to keep in step with the Diggers by his side.
And when the march was over the kid was rather tired.
A Digger said “Whose medals, son?” to which the kid replied:
“They belong to daddy, but he did not come back.
He died up in New Guinea on a lonely jungle track”.
The kid looked rather sad then and a tear came to his eye.
The Digger said “Don’t cry my son and I will tell you why.
Your daddy marched with us today - all the blooming way.
We Diggers know that he was there - it’s like that on ANZAC Day”.
The kid looked rather puzzled and didn’t understand,
But the Digger went on talking and started to wave his hand.
“For this great land we live in, there’s a price we have to pay
For we all love fun and merriment in this country where we live.
The price was that some soldier his precious life must give.
For you to go to school my lad and worship God at will,
Someone had to pay the price so the Diggers paid the bill.
Your daddy died for us my son - for all things good and true.
I wonder if you understand the things I’ve said to you”.
The kid looked up at the Digger - just for a little while
And with a changed expression, said, with a lovely smile:
“I know my dad marched here today - this is ANZAC Day.
I know he did. I know he did, all the bloomin’ way”.[/QUOTE]
I always feel like my grandfather is with us when we march each year (Australian tradition)
[QUOTE=Sihav;19373413]Does their "brainwashing" justify what they did?
That aside, SOME Nazis, I would like to imagine, did not believe wholly in what they were doing while others did. And The anti-Nazis definitely believed in what they were fighting for. It was not a completely faceless war, though the soldiers are often victims too.[/QUOTE]
Stop fucking generalizing. Do you think all soldiers on both fronts were shoving jews into camps? Fact is that most didn't even know about it. Point is, don't you think they cried if a friend of theirs died in their arms? Don't you think they grew close like a family like soldiers today does?
[QUOTE=thisispain;19373483]you know there's sarcasm and then there's overdoing it[/QUOTE]
I love overdoing stuff.
[QUOTE=Kamikaze;19368978]Showing poetry to FP is like showing a monkey a dildo. They'll just cover it in shit.
What?[/QUOTE]
I find that ever since the [B]Pictures that changed the World[/B] thread, Facepunch has become a lot more mature.
"The Seed-Merchant's Son" by Agnes Grozier Herbertson.
[I]The Seed-Merchant has lost his son,
His dear, his loved, his only one.
So young he was, Even now it seems
He was a child with a child’s dreams.
He would race over the meadow-bed
With his bright, bright eyes and his cheeks all red.
Fair and healthy and long of limb;
It made one young just to look at him.
His school books, unto the cupboard thrust,
Have scarcely had time to gather dust.
Died in the war….And it seems his eyes
Must have looked at death with a child’s surprise.
The Seed-Merchant goes on his way:
I saw him out on his land today;
Old to have fathered so young a son,
And now the last glint of his youth is gone.
What could one say to him in his need?
Little there seemed to say indeed.
So still he was that the birds flew round
The grey of his head without a sound,
Careless and tranquil in the air,
As if naught human were standing there.
On, never a soul could understand
Why he looked at the earth, and the seed in his hand,
As he had never before seen seed or sod:
I heard him murmur: ‘Thank God, thank God!’ [/I]
[QUOTE=Metaknigth;19373152]I read the title .... "Best war porn I've ever read"... :v:[/QUOTE]
then you deserve a box fort
[QUOTE=BackOnCrack;19377800]then you deserve a box fort[/QUOTE]
Can I have a dumbfort too?
[QUOTE=Kazumi;19373133]Because Nazi's totally were neither humans nor brainwashed by their government to think that jews were the scum of the earth. They didn't have friends and family, heck not even feelings. They ate kitten and puppy cereal for breakfast and washed it all down with a big cup of virgin blood. They had crazy orgies whenever they weren't fighting and they often killed their parents as a rite of passage to adulthood.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for clearing it up, I never knew they did that.
[QUOTE=:smug:;19373700]I find that ever since the [B]Pictures that changed the World[/B] thread, Facepunch has become a lot more mature.[/QUOTE]
It's just a temporary lull in the stupidity. It happens a lot.
[QUOTE=Kazumi;19373133]Because Nazi's totally were neither humans nor brainwashed by their government to think that jews were the scum of the earth. They didn't have friends and family, heck not even feelings. They ate kitten and puppy cereal for breakfast and washed it all down with a big cup of virgin blood. They had crazy orgies whenever they weren't fighting and they often killed their parents as a rite of passage to adulthood.[/QUOTE]
Kazumi is a Nazi who keeps a family of jews in his basement to torture.
[i]I have personally killed 6,078 men in cold blood while looking them in the eye
Jumped on 1,455 live grenades
And stuffed fourteen feet of my own intestine back into my stomach.
If that doesn't scare you out of your frilly pink leotards, guess what[/i]
[b]YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND YOU HATE AMERICA.[/b]
True beauty.
[QUOTE=SkinkYEA;19381145][i]I have personally killed 6,078 men in cold blood while looking them in the eye
Jumped on 1,455 live grenades
And stuffed fourteen feet of my own intestine back into my stomach.
If that doesn't scare you out of your frilly pink leotards, guess what[/i]
[b]YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND YOU HATE AMERICA.[/b]
True beauty.[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8686/whenamericansoldiersgetat3.jpg[/IMG]
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