Video - Remember Flanders (youth version) – Decoding ART

Transcript

Transcript of Remember Flanders (youth version)

[Canadian Heritage signature]

Narrator: "This capsule is presented by Canadian Heritage."

[The bronze sculpture of John McCrae]

Narrator: "The statue in front of you honours John McCrae, a Canadian doctor and soldier who wrote a very famous poem about the First World War called In Flanders Fields."

[Close-up of the hand holding the poem]

Narrator: "You may have heard this poem on Remembrance Day, or maybe you’ve read it in school. The poem talks about the poppies growing near the graves of soldiers.

" In Flanders Fields became so popular that it’s the reason we often wear poppies in November to remember soldiers who died in war."

[Photography of John McCrae with his dog]

Narrator: "John McCrae grew up in Ontario. He wrote poetry from the time he was in high school. Some of his poetry was published when he was a young man. Besides writing poetry, John McCrae went to medical school to train as a doctor."

[Close-up of the head of the sculpture]

Narrator: "When the First World War began in 1914, John McCrae felt it was his duty to volunteer as a soldier. He served as a Brigade Surgeon and later worked at a Canadian field hospital in France, caring for the soldiers who were wounded in battle."

[Photography showing the graves of the soldiers]

Narrator: "He wrote In Flanders Fields not long after one of his good friends was killed in the fighting.

"Sadly, John McCrae caught pneumonia and died in France in 1918, the last year of the war."

[Different views of the sculpture]

Narrator: "This statue is called Remember Flanders, and was created by Ruth Abernethy, a Canadian sculptor from Ontario.

"The artist created this sculpture to look as though John McCrae were in the middle of writing his poem. It is as if he is taking a quiet moment away from the battlefield to write down his thoughts.

"Take a look at the other parts of the sculpture.

"They all tell you a little bit about John McCrae.

"The bag on the ground, near his feet, is a doctor’s bag to remind us of his work as a doctor. His cap, which is also on the ground, has a Gunner badge on it. He is wearing the grenade collar badges of the artillery on his lapels. This is because McCrae was a soldier with the artillery—the section of the army that uses large guns.

"This monument was unveiled —placed here—by the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery in 2015.

"It reminds us that John McCrae wrote his poem in 1915.

"You can click on the clip In Flanders Fields to listen to it now."

[Canada Wordmark]

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