In Flanders Fields
From this convent of women which was the headquarters of the 6thCanadian Field Ambulance, I wrote to John McCrae, who was then atBoulogne, accusing him of the authorship, and furnished him withevidence. From memory--since at the front one carries one book only--Iquoted to him another piece of his own verse, entitled "The NightCometh":
"Cometh the night. The wind falls low,The trees swing slowly to and fro;Around the church the headstones greyCluster, like children stray'd away,But found again, and folded so."
"Rest ye in peace, ye Flanders dead.The fight that ye so bravely ledWe've taken up."
Words in this poem
- canadian a.
- Of or pertaining to Canada.
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Flanders Fields is in the public domain. This text is taken from In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #353; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John McCrae, In Flanders Fields, in In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mccrae-flanders/in-flanders-fields-2.html, id L17060.
Form and metre
In Flanders Fields is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 AABBA lowA · froA · greyB · awayB · soA
- 3 AA- deadA · ledA · up
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| From this convent of women which was the headquarters of the 6th | 15 | ··/··/˘···/·˘·· |
| Canadian Field Ambulance, I wrote to John McCrae, who was then at | 16 | ˘/˘·/˘····˘/···· |
| Boulogne, accusing him of the authorship, and furnished him with | 16 | ··˘/˘···/˘··/˘·· |
| evidence. From memory--since at the front one carries one book only--I | 17 | /˘·/˘·····/˘··/˘· |
| quoted to him another piece of his own verse, entitled "The Night | 17 | /˘··˘/˘·····˘/˘·· |
| Cometh": | 2 | /˘ |
| "Cometh the night. The wind falls low, | 8 | /˘······ |
| The trees swing slowly to and fro; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Around the church the headstones grey | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Cluster, like children stray'd away, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| But found again, and folded so." | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| "Rest ye in peace, ye Flanders dead. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The fight that ye so bravely led | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We've taken up." | 4 | ·/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.