Analysis of Flanders Field Poem

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.

First I think that this poem is very well-written because it properly describes the soldiers’ emotions about the war.

The poem starts off with Flanders field and the poppies that grow in abundance. The poppies mentioned in the poem grew widespread in Flanders, in the battlefields and cemeteries where war casualties were buried, thus representing the soldiers. The larks in the sky represent the hope of the dead soldiers, the soldiers that are still fighting on, thus “bravely singing”.

The second stanza shows how sudden can the change in life be. Just days ago the soldiers were alive, well, loved, but now their dead and they lie in Flanders Field. Also, the usage of short instead of another word in “short days ago” (despite it not being grammatically correct), is to show how these days were passed shortly, with all the fighting, where there is no peace.

The third stanza is a plea from the dead soldiers, for the ones still alive to fight on. The use of the torch as a metaphor and to “hold it high”, is the dead soldiers passing the responsibility to the ones alive, for the ones alive to “take up quarrel with the foe”, to fight the enemy. “We shall not sleep” if “ye break the faith with us” means that if the soldiers alive fail to defeat the enemy, the ones that are dead will not rest in peace.