<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Poppies</h1><p class="byline"> CAPT. JOHN MILLS HANSON, F.A. <br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/><span class="smallcaps">IN The Stars And Stripes</span>, A.E.F.,<span class="smallcaps"> France</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">POPPIES in the wheat fields on the pleasant hills of France,</p><p class="line">Reddening in the summer breeze that bids them nod and dance;</p><p class="line">Over them the skylark sings his lilting, liquid tune--</p><p class="line">Poppies in the wheat fields, and all the world in June.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Poppies in the wheat fields on the road to Monthiers--</p><p class="line">Hark, the spiteful rattle where the masked machine guns play!</p><p class="line">Over them the shrapnel's song greets the summer morn-- </p><p class="line">Poppies in the wheat fields--but, ah, the fields are torn.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">See the stalwart Yankee lads, never ones to blench,</p><p class="line">Poppies in their helmets as they clear the shallow trench,</p><p class="line">Leaping down the furrows with eager, boyish tread </p><p class="line">Through the poppied wheat field to the flaming woods ahead.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Poppies in the wheat fields as sinks the summer sun,</p><p class="line">Broken, bruised and trampled--but the bitter day is won;</p><p class="line">Yonder in the woodland where the flashing rifles shine, </p><p class="line">With their poppies in their helmets, the front files hold the line,</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Poppies in the wheat fields; how' still beside them lie</p><p class="line">Scattered forms that stir not when the star shells burst on high; </p><p class="line">Gently bending o'er them beneath the moon's soft glance,</p><p class="line">Poppies of the wheat fields on the ransomed hills of France</p></div></body></html> · Great War