Rondeau · Death & Loss

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae · 1915

Reading room

1In Flanders fields the poppies blow

2Between the crosses, row on row,

3That mark our place; and in the sky

4The larks, still bravely singing, fly

5Scarce heard amid the guns below.

6We are the Dead. Short days ago

7We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

8Loved and were loved, and now we lie

9In Flanders fields.

10Take up our quarrel with the foe:

11To you from failing hands we throw

12The torch; be yours to hold it high.

13If ye break faith with us who die

14We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

15In Flanders fields.

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“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.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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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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Rondeau Elegy Death & Loss Grief War & Remembrance

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