Shakespeare Junkie

I used to have a Complete Works of Shakespeare. It was a gift from when I was in Grade 12 or 13. It saw me through my four year, Honours degree in English and History from the University of Western Ontario. It contained a pressed flower from my bridal bouquet, marking the passage from Hamlet that was the basis for my wedding invitation. Somehow, inexplicably, it was placed in a donate box and lost forever. I made this revelation about 4 years ago when this idea began percolating in my brain.

Remembering...

Yesterday was Remembrance Day. One of the few poems that I absolutely love is In Flanders Fields. It is so visual and poignant. Who cannot automatically picture the the field of poppies and the row upon row of white crosses. I thought it appropriate to share.

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.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918), Canadian Army