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National Poetry Month, Part 4: WWI Poems

Posted by Anna Khomina on Friday, 04/28/2017

In 1918, Ella Osborn, an American nurse serving in France at the close of WWI, copied two poems into her personal diary: "In Flanders Fields," written in 1915 by Canadian surgeon Lt. Col. John D. McCrae, and "The Answer," a response by Lt. J.A. Armstrong of Wisconsin.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place. While in the Sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Unheard, amid the guns below.
We are the dead, Short days ago
We lived, felt dawns, saw sunsets glow;
Loved and were loved – but now we lie
       In Flanders Field

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch, Be yours to bear it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep tho’ poppies blow
        In Flanders Field.

The Answer –

In Flanders Field the cannon boom
And fitful flashes light the gloom;
While up above, like Eagles, fly
The fierce destroyers of the sky;
With stains the earth wherein you lie
Is redder than the poppy bloom
       In Flanders Field.

Sleep on ye brave! The shrieking shell,
The quaking trench, the startling yell,
The fury of the battle hell
Shall wake you not; for all is well.

Sleep peacefully, for all is well.
Your flaming torch aloft we bear,
With burning heart an oath we swear
To keep the faith to fight it through
To crush the foe, or sleep with you
       In Flanders Field

As a nurse serving near the front, Osborn would have been a witness to the death and destruction of the war. Her diary details her daily life as well as the trauma of her work near the front line, caring for soldiers injured by bullets, bombs, and chemical weapons. 

July 8. Miss Rottman, Miss Lent & I went to Bruley, and had an omlet, also bought some French cake which we could not eat.

Mon July 29. Went to the dressing room this morning had 22 dressings. 2 under anesthesia, did not get off for any time & came off dead tired & went to bed

Fri. May 31st nearly 400 of our boys were gased last night and are at 102 field Hosp. some are very bad—some say it was Phosgene gas and others say Mustard.

However, the poems stand in stark contrast to the tone of her typical entries, where her daily routines, from drinking tea to caring for soldiers with crippling injuries, are largely recorded in the same matter-of-fact, detached voice. These poems perhaps hint at Osborn’s attempts to make sense of the large-scale death and destruction around her.

On our website you can learn more about Ella Osborn, view our digital exhibition and timeline on World War I and America, and explore WWI primary sources, essays, and teaching resources in History by Era.