Saturday 8 November 2014

Where the Poppies Blow

We will remember them.

To commemorate the fallen, millions of ceramic poppies are being displayed in the moat around the Tower of London. 



The humble poppy is widely recognised as an international symbol of remembrance. Soldiers first associated the blood-coloured flower with war when they saw it in huge numbers, covering the battle-scarred fields of Flanders and growing on broken ground, which is, of course, where poppies grow best.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
John McCrae (Inspired by the death of a Canadian officer close to the Advanced Dressing Station which was a concrete bunker on the battlefield.)

On May 2nd, 1915 news reached him that his friend and protege, Lieut Alexis Helmer, had been blasted to pieces by an eight-inch Howitzer shell. It was this experience that prompted McCrae to write these poignant words:

"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 falling 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."

This simple poem was an almost overnight success after publication in Punch magazine in December 1915.

Towards the end of the war, an American lady called Moira Michael wrote a poem in response, entitled "We Shall Keep the Faith". She exhorted readers to wear a poppy in honour of the dead. The secretary of the French YMCA, Madame Guerin, grasped this idea; she began selling artificial poppies to raise funds for soldiers and their families.

In the UK the concept was taken on by the Earl Haig fund and adopted by the newly formed British Legion as a symbol of remembrance of the dead and the missing, and as a means of raising funds for wounded and hard-pressed soldiers after the war. The first poppy day was held on November 11, 1921.



PEACE
by Private Alexander McKee, Canadian Army B.L.A.

"Here on the slope of the hillside, lying
In the field here the corn waved, proud and free;
Here on the hill where manhood, dying,
Lost the sun, and the power to see,
They lost the years and the light and laughter,
And gained a peace we shall not know,
They lost the tears that shall come after,
And all the storms that yet shall blow.
And who shall say at the end of the day,
With the sunset shining clear,
That those who fell by the winding way,
In the peace and the quiet here,
Gained greater gifts than peace shall give,
Where only the soft winds blow,
And a better fate than those who live?
They have found peace where poppies grow."



THE SEND-OFF
Wilfred Owen 1893-1918

"Down the close, darkening lanes they sang their way
To the siding shed,
And lined the train with faces grimly gay.

Their breasts were struck all white with wreath and spray
As men's are, dead.

Dull porters watched them, and a casual tramp
Stood staring hard,
Sorry to miss them from the upland camp.
Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp
Winked to the guard.

So secretly, like wrongs hushed-up, they went.
They were not ours:
We never heard to which front these were sent.

Nor there if they yet mock what women meant
Who gave them flowers.

Shall they return to beatings of great bells
In wild train-loads?
A few, a few, too few for drums and yells,
May creep back, silent, to still village wells
Up half-known roads."



"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."





32 comments:

  1. I wished we lived closer to London, I would have loved the kids to see this and understand the significance of all those lost men, including my own relatives.
    I studied WWI poetry, and Wilfred Owen remains one of my favourite poets.
    Thanks for the moving post.
    hugs
    DF

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    1. I am going to London next Saturday with my daughter and I only hope they are as slow taking them down as putting them up so that we can still see most of the poppies in position.

      My favourite Owen poem remains Strange Meeting. It was so sad that he died on the last day of the war.

      Thank you for reading.

      Hugs
      Ami

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    2. Strange Meeting is one of my favourites too. I loved Pat Barker's book about Owen and Sassoon - called Regeneration, I don't know if you've read the trilogy.

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    3. No, I haven't read that book, but now I intend to. My favourite Sassoon book is "Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man". Have you read the triology about Wilfred Owen's life called "Journey from Obscurity"? It is very touching.

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  2. This is a beautiful post, Ami. Thank you for sharing it with us. I hope everyone remembers a moment of silence at 11:11 am on November 11th.

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    1. I, too, hope everyone, no matter what they are doing, will stop and reflect for a minute at 11.11am on November 11. Our world would be a very different place without our people who serve and defend us.

      Thank you for reading, Christina.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  3. Ami,
    My Veterans' DAy post goes up on Monday. Thank you for yours. Those who serve want only a simple thank you. I give thanks everyday for those who serve and a special thank to my very own veteran, Jack.
    Meredith

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    1. To say 'Thank you' is such a small thing, but so meaningful.

      I used to write to a soldier in Afghanistan, and he used to share my letters with all his 'mates'. It is so important that they receive letters from home as emails are not the same. He did five tours of duty over there, and having survived, he has now left the army, married a lovely girl, and they are expecting their first baby in the spring.

      Although they are half our ages, we are now firm friends, and I am so glad I wrote to 'my soldier'. I learned an awful lot more about the truth of things than I care to share, but I am very grateful.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  4. Thank you for the remembrance. It is important that we remember all who have died in all wars

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    1. Thank you, Don. Yes, it is very, very important. We should all be indebted to the men and women who serve and defend us, and we should never forget the price many of them have paid.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  5. A beautiful post Ami. We do tend to forget. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you, PK. I haven't yet visited the Tower and the poppies, but am going next Saturday and I hope there will still be quite a lot there.

      They have been sold at £25 a poppy with all money going to charities that aid serving personnel and their families, especially those who have returned with horrific injuries and need care and rehabilitation.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  6. Thank you Ami for this wonderful post. So much I never knew and really the only poem I knew what In Flanders Field. I remember we had to learn it in grade school.

    I have a post scheduled for the 11th - we have so much to thank our service men and woman and their families for the freedoms we enjoy.

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    1. We watched a wonderful and moving service on Sunday in the churchyard opposite our new home. They have built the most beautiful memorial for American airmen who served on a nearby airbase during World War II, and who perished in the war. A couple of very elderly gentlemen made the journey over here with their families, and lots of young men in uniform came from a nearby airbase. The Bishop held the service of remembrance. It was truly wonderful and inspiring.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  7. a beautiful remembrance...thank-you

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  8. Lovely Ami ~ Thank you.
    hugs,
    Cali

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  9. Wonderful post Ami, thank you, clara

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    1. Thank you for reading, Clara. I am so glad you came by.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  10. Thank you for the lovely remembrance sweet Ami. It is so very important that we remember all those who have died in all the wars.

    Hugs and Blessings...
    Cat

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    1. Thank you for reading, Cat. Yes, it is very important that we remember those who have served in all the wars on our behalf. We should never forget to say thank you.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  11. Hi Am, lovely post. Our oldest works just near the Tower and has seen the display. It's so thought provoking and beautiful
    love Jan,xx

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    1. Thank you for reading, Jan. I am going to London with my daughter next Saturday and hopefully there will still be some poppies to see. Glad you liked the poems.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  12. I would imagine that would be a sight to see around the Tower. Tuesday The National War Memorial I suspect will be even more crowded this year considering the recent events here. So important to remember those who lost their lives or their youth at war, but also those who serve anytime.

    willie

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    1. Thank you for reading, Willie. We should never cease to be thankful for those who have lost their lives in the forces, and defending us, both past and present.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  13. A lovely post Ami. We should always remember. Thank you.

    Have you been to see the poppies?

    Love,
    Ronnie
    xx

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    1. Thank you, Ronnie for your comments. No, I haven't been yet, but am going to London next Saturday to the Country Living Fayre with my daughter and we hope to go over to the Tower and see the poppies. I just hope there will still be some for us to see! They took a long time putting them up, so hopefully there will be some left.

      Hugs
      Ami

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    2. Ami,

      I think part of the display will be up for another week or so after today.

      Love,
      Ronnie
      xx

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  14. Beautiful post Ami and such a lovely tribute. Thank you.

    Hugs
    Roz

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    1. Thank you for reading, Roz. We should never forget the sacrifice so many made for us.

      Hugs
      Ami

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  15. Your post was lovely, Ami! I never knew the symbolism of the poppy in England.

    Hugs,
    Amy

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