In Flanders Fields |
In Courage |
War poetry
One of the most famous war poems of World War I would have to be In Flanders Fields by John McCrae. This poem is where the idea of poppies as a symbol of remembrance came from. The inspiration for this poem is thought to have been from the death of McCrae’s friend, Alexis Helmer, during WWI. I chose to analyze In Flanders Fields because I liked his choice of rhyme scheme and literary devices. In my attempt to keep my original poem, In Courage, semi-parallel to In Flanders Fields I used a similar theme, also used some of the literary devices present in McCrae’s poem in my own and followed the same rhyming structure.
I based the theme of my poem off of one of the major themes I found present in In Flanders Fields, that is courage. Specifically the courage to persevere throughout the war, despite the horrors that the soldiers had to endure. Line 4 in McCrae’s poem is a great example of this theme: The larks, still bravely singing, fly. The larks in this case representing the soldiers and their spirit and bravery to carry on living, not giving up against the enemy. I took a less war centered approach however, and instead intertwined the theme of courage in relation to overcoming greed and pride. My Poem, In Courage, is about how humans need of power and control can lead most to a horrible end, and that it takes courage to overcome the temptations of greed and power.
To bring out the themes of courage and greed in my poem, I used the same literary devices that were present in In Flanders Fields because I thought that the ones McCrae used would best represent my poem. McCrae appears to use metaphors and symbolism in his poem. His use of metaphors can be seen in line 12: The torch; be yours to hold it high. The torch seems to represent a duty that is handed over to the living by the dead soldiers, a duty to remember those who have fallen in battle. The poppies in lines 1 and 14, are symbolic of sleep and death. Also, the lark in line 4, could be interpreted as courage and perseverance. I believe the author used these devices because the poppies, the lark, and the torch all paint a very vivid image in the readers minds. Portraying a vibrant and contrasting image between the different symbols.
I attempted to use a metaphor in line five: To break the chains that bind his soul. In other words, greed keeps a man prisoner. As long as a person is driven by power and greed, then they will forever be ruled by it. As for symbolism, I used gold, the peacock, the toad, and the dove. Gold represents greed and power in line four: To free himself today from gold. The peacock and the toad are believed to be the animals that represent two of the Seven Deadly Sins, I used them in lines ten and twelve, respectively. The peacock represents hubris, meaning excessive pride or confidence. The toad representing avarice or greediness: excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain. The dove is the opposite of the peacock and the toad, which I used in line thirteen, symbolizing purity and freedom from the insatiable desires of the peacock and the toad.
The structure, on the other hand, was not as easy for me to mirror. The structure and meter of In Flanders Fields were very hard for me to grasp initially. In Flanders Fields is a lyric poem in the format of a French rondeau. A rondeau is made up of three stanzas and a total of fifteen lines. The rhyme scheme of "In Flanders Fields" is aabba, aabc, aabbac, with the c’s being the refrains. Refrains are very short lines that rhyme only with each other and not with any other lines. The refrain that McCrae used in lines nine and fifteen was “In Flanders Fields”, which he derived from the beginning portion of the first line: In Flanders fields the poppies blow. I followed the same rondeau pattern and chose “In courage” as my refrain, also taking my refrain from my first line: In courage seek the mighty goal. Where meter is concerned, In Flanders Fields follows an iambic tetrameter. Each line has four pairs of syllables, with the first syllable being stressed and the second unstressed. To keep my poem somewhat parallel to In Flanders Fields, I also used iambic tetrameter.
After research and trial and error, I was able to create my original poem with rondeau structure, using iambic tetrameter, and having the same theme while integrating some of the literary devices used in In Flanders Fields. I had a wonderful experience with reading In Flanders Fields and creating my very own poem based off of McCrae’s creation. I now have greater respect for writers who manifest even more complex works than I have done, and probably will ever do. I also learned that the best way to know if a word is stressed or unstressed is to just read it aloud and hear how it sounds, because poetry is basically music.
I based the theme of my poem off of one of the major themes I found present in In Flanders Fields, that is courage. Specifically the courage to persevere throughout the war, despite the horrors that the soldiers had to endure. Line 4 in McCrae’s poem is a great example of this theme: The larks, still bravely singing, fly. The larks in this case representing the soldiers and their spirit and bravery to carry on living, not giving up against the enemy. I took a less war centered approach however, and instead intertwined the theme of courage in relation to overcoming greed and pride. My Poem, In Courage, is about how humans need of power and control can lead most to a horrible end, and that it takes courage to overcome the temptations of greed and power.
To bring out the themes of courage and greed in my poem, I used the same literary devices that were present in In Flanders Fields because I thought that the ones McCrae used would best represent my poem. McCrae appears to use metaphors and symbolism in his poem. His use of metaphors can be seen in line 12: The torch; be yours to hold it high. The torch seems to represent a duty that is handed over to the living by the dead soldiers, a duty to remember those who have fallen in battle. The poppies in lines 1 and 14, are symbolic of sleep and death. Also, the lark in line 4, could be interpreted as courage and perseverance. I believe the author used these devices because the poppies, the lark, and the torch all paint a very vivid image in the readers minds. Portraying a vibrant and contrasting image between the different symbols.
I attempted to use a metaphor in line five: To break the chains that bind his soul. In other words, greed keeps a man prisoner. As long as a person is driven by power and greed, then they will forever be ruled by it. As for symbolism, I used gold, the peacock, the toad, and the dove. Gold represents greed and power in line four: To free himself today from gold. The peacock and the toad are believed to be the animals that represent two of the Seven Deadly Sins, I used them in lines ten and twelve, respectively. The peacock represents hubris, meaning excessive pride or confidence. The toad representing avarice or greediness: excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain. The dove is the opposite of the peacock and the toad, which I used in line thirteen, symbolizing purity and freedom from the insatiable desires of the peacock and the toad.
The structure, on the other hand, was not as easy for me to mirror. The structure and meter of In Flanders Fields were very hard for me to grasp initially. In Flanders Fields is a lyric poem in the format of a French rondeau. A rondeau is made up of three stanzas and a total of fifteen lines. The rhyme scheme of "In Flanders Fields" is aabba, aabc, aabbac, with the c’s being the refrains. Refrains are very short lines that rhyme only with each other and not with any other lines. The refrain that McCrae used in lines nine and fifteen was “In Flanders Fields”, which he derived from the beginning portion of the first line: In Flanders fields the poppies blow. I followed the same rondeau pattern and chose “In courage” as my refrain, also taking my refrain from my first line: In courage seek the mighty goal. Where meter is concerned, In Flanders Fields follows an iambic tetrameter. Each line has four pairs of syllables, with the first syllable being stressed and the second unstressed. To keep my poem somewhat parallel to In Flanders Fields, I also used iambic tetrameter.
After research and trial and error, I was able to create my original poem with rondeau structure, using iambic tetrameter, and having the same theme while integrating some of the literary devices used in In Flanders Fields. I had a wonderful experience with reading In Flanders Fields and creating my very own poem based off of McCrae’s creation. I now have greater respect for writers who manifest even more complex works than I have done, and probably will ever do. I also learned that the best way to know if a word is stressed or unstressed is to just read it aloud and hear how it sounds, because poetry is basically music.