This print depicts the famous poem by John McCrae framed in a field of poppies. McCrae's poem was mass-produced, accompanied by images, and even put to music. The images of poppies and crosses reflect the poem's verses, but perhaps not its tone, which is perhaps more belligerent than is often remembered. This meaning has softened with time. Contemporary readers, including school children, generally encounter the work as an ode to peace or as a reminder to reflect on past sacrifices. In McRae's time, writing in 1915, the phrase "take up our quarrel with the foe" had a far more precise and political message.
Print by the Heliotype Co. Ltd.
CWM 20060073-001
Canada and the First World War
