In Flanders, eighty-nine years ago today, the guns fell silent, and one of the great follies of our times came to an end —<\/p>\n
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
\nBetween the crosses, row on row,
\nThat mark our place; and in the sky
\nThe larks, still bravely singing, fly
\nScarce heard amid the guns below.<\/p>\nWe are the Dead. Short days ago
\nWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
\nLoved, and were loved, and now we lie
\nIn Flanders fields.<\/p>\nTake up our quarrel with the foe:
\nTo you from failing hands we throw
\nThe torch; be yours to hold it high.
\nIf ye break faith with us who die
\nWe shall not sleep, though poppies grow
\nIn Flanders fields.<\/i>
\n — John McCrae
\n “In Flanders Fields”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDoctor Who<\/i> introduced me to another poem often read on November 11th:<\/p>\n
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
\nEngland mourns for her dead across the sea.
\nFlesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
\nFallen in the cause of the free. <\/p>\nSolemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
\nSings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
\nThere is music in the midst of desolation
\nAnd a glory that shines upon our tears. <\/p>\nThey went with songs to the battle, they were young,
\nStraight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
\nThey were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
\nThey fell with their faces to the foe. <\/p>\nThey shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
\nAge shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
\nAt the going down of the sun and in the morning
\nWe will remember them. <\/p>\nThey mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
\nThey sit no more at familiar tables of home;
\nThey have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
\nThey sleep beyond England’s foam. <\/p>\nBut where our desires are and our hopes profound,
\nFelt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
\nTo the innermost heart of their own land they are known
\nAs the stars are known to the Night; <\/p>\nAs the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
\nMoving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
\nAs the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
\nTo the end, to the end, they remain.<\/i>
\n — Laurence Binyon
\n “For the Fallen”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI may watch “Human Nature”\/”The Family of Blood” today. Seems apropos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Flanders, eighty-nine years ago today, the guns fell silent, and one of the great follies of our times came to an end — 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 gunsContinue reading “On Veteran’s Day”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[459,321,14],"class_list":["post-1349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-flanders-fields","tag-veterans-day","tag-world-war-i","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}