In Flanders Fields Paper Essay Example

guns below. " (l. 5) and overpowered by the disturbing brutality and violence of the fight and struggle.

In the second stanza, McCrae goes on to explain that the dead were recently not so. They experienced life Just as everyone else; they were no different for "Short days ago/[They] lived" (II. 6-7). They had families, belonged to someone, they "Loved and ere loved" (l. 8). They had hopes, dreams, fears, ambitions that were swept away by the destruction of warfare. Their graves were new, still covered by the brown earth because they had not been gone long enough for them to be covered by the undergrowth.

These freshly fallen young men had once lived lives of love and exuberance; their youth "severed by the sharp knife of a short life". The third stanza is all about the call to arms. Throughout the lines of this final stanza, McCrae uses imagery to set a patriotic tone. From the beginning of time, those at war would carry the their country colors or flag into battle. Many gave their ivies protecting "the colors". If the flag bearer was shot down, the man next to him would drop his weapon and carry the colors in place of the fallen keeper.

In a similar way, McCrae speaks of the theoretical torch. The fallen soldiers throw the torch, in hopes the soldier next in line would catch it and keep the flame from burning out. The flame resembles the light of freedom and the struggle against oppression. The deceased have passed on their duties to those still fighting to carry on the struggle. McCrae implores the living to keep the fire

of passion for the fight for freedom complete and Justice has won, the dead "shall not sleep" (l. 4) In the very last line of the poem, McCrae writes "though poppies grow/Len Flanders fields. " (II. 14-15).

Here, he alludes to the imagery of the first stanza, bringing back the serenity and peacefulness of the field and the beauty of the poppies. By using the word "though", McCrae warns against being fooled by the impression of tranquility. Although it may seem that way, it cannot be so until their cause is victorious. In the last stanza McCrae states there will NOT be serenity, it should NOT be peaceful. Instead, McCrae beseeches the soldiers to keep fighting, do not rest, and never give up. McCrae writes this poem from the vantage point of the fallen in order to further convey his point.

In writing from this point of view, he validates the worth of the cause and the price that may be paid. If the voices of the fallen urge you to continue, they believe it was worth it. Those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice believe the price was not too high. The pleading from the dead indicates that they think it is worth all life and that fighting for the right cause is far greater than the life of an individual. Losing is never an option and a fight to victory is worth the struggle till the very last person.