Scriptio Canada Poetry Division

In Flanders Fields

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 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.

John McCrae 1872-1918

Occasionally, a poet becomes famous for a single poem. John McCrae's fame
as a poet rest on his poem, "In Flanders Fields."

Mr. McCrae was a Canadian physician who enlisted in the Canadian Army
to serve as a medical officer in France during World War I. He wrote "In Flanders Fields"
during the second battle of Ypres.

After the poem was published in an English magazine, it caught the public's attention
and was widely reprinted. Because the author was speaking for American soldiers as well as Canadian many school children in the United States are taught this poem in their literature classes from grade school up to college level.

"In Flanders Fields" is probably one of the best-known and most popular poem to come out of World War I.

Mr. McCraw died in France in 1918, shortly before the war ended.

In the 1996 Canadian Library Awards, in Honour books for 1996, Linda Granfield (with illustrations by Janet Wilson)'s book : In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by Joan McCrae (Lester) was honoured. First place was Maxine Trottier. The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing (Stoddart)

Scriptio Canada Poetry Competition Information

Canadian Poets wishing to submit their work can now submit up to
15 pieces of poetry under one application form. This new determination allows writers to group
multi-pieces on one topic, or theme into a submission without feeling that they must sacrifice
sections of work in order to meet submission guidelines.

Any poet submitting more than 15 pieces must submit two official entry forms
with their work while indicating that the pieces are collections/themes. The minimum amount of
poetry acceptable under one application form is two pieces, in a theme or non-theme or non-related
works.

Please do not send/submit Any work to Scriptio Canada without first sending away for our official guidelines and official entry form. No entrys will be accepted without it, nor will they be judged.

For more information please email: scriptio_canada@wwdg.com.

By Blue Ontario's Shore

By blue Ontario's shore,
As I mused of these warlike days
and of peace return'd,
and the dead that return no more..

Walt Whitman

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I-- I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference..

The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost.

Il pleure dans mon coeur

Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville
Quelle est cette languer
Qui penetre mon coeur?

O bruit doux de la pluie
Par terre et sur les toits!
Pour un coeur qui s'ennuie
O le chant de la pluie!

Il pleure sans raison
Dans ce coeur qui s'ecoeure.
Quoi! nulle trahison?
Ce deuil est sans raison.

C'est bien la pire peine
De ne savoir pourquoi
Sans amour et sans haine
Mon coeur a tant de peine.

Paul Verlaine