English bookclub 13 October 17th In Flanders fields from john McCrae

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 In Flanders fields
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 In Flanders fields
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields 

Stephanie had organized the meeting from 10am to noon at the Calais library 16r Pont Lottin, We were 6 people and discussed about this wonderful poem
It is a war poem written during the First World War by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. 
 It is also widely used in wartime propaganda but seems rather anti-war to us. 
Strophe 1,
we can see the contrast between the tranquillity of a bucolic landscape and the reality of war represented by a row of crosses. The poppies symbolise the blood of the soldiers who died in battle, but despite everything, life has resumed and the larks have started to sing again


Strophe 2,
The phrase "we are the Dead" is terrifying. The soldiers seem to be part of the same person: Death which has swallowed them all up
There is a contrast between the soldiers' lives before the war and their present situation. The Flanders field where they lie now lie is their only home

Strophe 3
We are delivered the message of the dead: continue the fight even without us so that we have not died in vain. If you don't we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields