Audiobook · read by volunteers
In Flanders Fields
John McCrae (1872–1918)
Read by Gord Mackenzie, Hugh McGuire, Kristen McQuillin, Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), mtl3p, R. Francis Smith, Mark Bradford · 7 chapters · 9 min
About the book
In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row. Few poems of the First World War are as well known as this one, written by a soldier-doctor who had seen too much. It is a short poem, only three stanzas, and it speaks in the voice of the dead, asking the living to remember and to carry on the fight. Seven LibriVox volunteers read it here, each in a different style. Because the poem is so brief, you can hear all seven readings in about twelve minutes. It has been read at remembrance ceremonies for more than a century. It makes a thoughtful listen for Remembrance Day, or for any time you want to pause and reflect. The same words can feel different each time, and that is part of the poem’s power.
Introduction
John McCrae (1872–1918) was a Canadian physician and soldier who served in the First World War. He wrote In Flanders Fields while at the front, and it was published in 1915. It is said to have been written after the burial of a young friend and fellow officer, killed at Ypres. The poem is simple in structure, and the volunteers make quite different choices about where the emphasis falls. It is a poem that has travelled far beyond its origin, and it remains a standard text at remembrance ceremonies in many countries.
The poem, a rondeau of three stanzas, is spoken by the fallen. It describes the poppies growing among the crosses of the war graves, remembers the days when the dead lived and loved, and ends with an appeal to the living to carry on the fight. It quickly became one of the most quoted poems of the war and was widely used in appeals for support. The red poppy, which it helped to popularise, is still worn in many countries as a symbol of remembrance. This recording is a multi-version project. LibriVox volunteers prepared seven different readings of the poem for a weekly poetry project, so there are seven short chapters, around twelve minutes of listening in total, with seven readers.
The poem’s popularity has sometimes obscured its tone, which is more complex than a simple call to arms. Hearing it several times, with different voices and different emphases, can bring out both the grief and the demand it contains.
It is a quiet, moving listen, especially around the November commemoration of the war’s end.
Public domain
John McCrae died in 1918: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text