John McCrae

Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD (30 November 1872 – 28 January 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I. He is famous for writing the war memorial poem "In Flanders Fields".

In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems (1918)

 * In Flanders fields the poppies grow
 * 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.