{"id":43112,"date":"2019-05-26T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T15:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=43112"},"modified":"2019-05-25T11:10:48","modified_gmt":"2019-05-25T15:10:48","slug":"why-is-the-poppy-a-symbol-of-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2019\/05\/why-is-the-poppy-a-symbol-of-memorial-day\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY IS THE POPPY A SYMBOL OF MEMORIAL DAY?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the war-torn battlefields of Europe, the common red field\npoppy (Papaver rhoeas) was one of the first plants to reappear. Its seeds\nscattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground, only\ngerminating when the ground was disturbed\u2014as it was by the very\nbrutal fighting of World War 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John McCrae, a Canadian soldier and physician, witnessed the\nwar first hand and was inspired to write the now-famous poem \u201cIn Flanders\nFields\u201d in 1915. (See below for the poem.) He saw the poppies scattered\nthroughout the battlefield surrounding his artillery position in Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Poppy Lady<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 1918, days before the official end of the war,\nan American professor named Moina Michael wrote her own poem, \u201cWe Shall Keep\nthe Faith,\u201d which was inspired by McCrae\u2019s \u201cIn Flanders Fields.\u201d In her poem\n(also shown below), she mentioned wearing the \u201cpoppy red\u201d to honor the dead,\nand with that, the tradition of adorning one\u2019s clothing with a single red poppy\nin remembrance of those killed in the Great War was born. Moina herself came to\nbe known\u2014and honored\u2014as \u201cThe Poppy Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Symbol Spreads Abroad<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wearing of the poppy was traditionally done on Memorial\nDay in the United States, but the symbolism has evolved to encompass all\nveterans living and deceased, so poppies may be worn on Veterans Day<\/a> as\nwell. Not long after the custom began, it was adopted by other Allied nations,\nincluding Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, where it is\nstill popular today. In these countries, the poppy is worn on Remembrance Day\n(November 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, poppies are not only a symbol of loss of life, but\nalso of recovery and new life, especially in support of the\nservicemen who survived the war but suffered from physical and psychological\ninjuries long after it ended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the text of both poems below, and learn more about\nthe inspiration for the poppy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Flanders Fields\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by John McCrae, May 1915<\/p>\n\n\n\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>\n\n\n\n

We 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>\n\n\n\n

Take 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe Shall Keep the Faith\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Moina Michael, November 1918<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
\nSleep sweet \u2013 to rise anew!
\nWe caught the torch you threw
\nAnd holding high, we keep the Faith
\nWith All who died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cherish, too, the poppy red
\nThat grows on fields where valor led;
\nIt seems to signal to the skies
\nThat blood of heroes never dies,
\nBut lends a lustre to the red
\nOf the flower that blooms above the dead
\nIn Flanders Fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
\nWe wear in honor of our dead.
\nFear not that ye have died for naught;
\nWe\u2019ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
\nIn Flanders Fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the war-torn battlefields of Europe, the common red field poppy (Papaver rhoeas) was one of the first plants to reappear. Its seeds scattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":43113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}