Rondeau · Death & Loss
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae · 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.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae — quilloak.com/poems/in-flanders-fields
Quick facts
- Poem
- In Flanders Fields
- Poet
- John McCrae
- Published
- 1915
- Length
- 15 lines
- Form
- Rondeau, Elegy
- Themes
- Death & Loss, Grief, War & Remembrance
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 15 lines · 3 stanzas of 4–6 lines
- Line length
- Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).
- Refrain
- “In Flanders fields.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- John McCrae1872–1918
- Source record
- WikisourceIn Flanders Fields by john-mccrae, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1915
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 51faf5f0648fa132…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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