Page:In Flanders Fields - 1921.djvu/9



The poem "In Flanders Fields", more widely known than any other born of the Great War, came naturally from the soul of John McCrae. It is significant of the man who wrote it, that he sent this poem to Punch, where it first appeared in the issue of December 8th, 1915. * *

John McCrae was a lover of all that is good in human life. His comradeship with horses, dogs and children, his uncompromising devotion to duty, his deep, unhesitating religious faith, are the evidences of a noble nature which commanded, in rare degree, the respect and the love, of all. Of Scotch Canadian parentage, he came of stock than which the world knows nothing better. * * * * *

The story of his life shows how his character was formed, and how his fine native powers were trained and developed for full use. *