我们必须记住。如果我们忘记了,那么十万牺牲的生命就毫无意义了。他们的死是为了我们,为了他们的家园和朋友,为了他们珍惜的传统和相信的未来;他们的死是为了加拿大。他们牺牲的意义留在我们国家的意识里;我们的未来就是他们的纪念碑。(Heather Robertson, A Terrible Beauty, The Art of Canada at War, Toronto, Lorimer, 1977)
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.
1918年,John McCrae因患伤寒死于Flanders,而这首名为《In Flanders fields》(原名《We Shall Not Sleep》)的诗则以民歌的形式在欧洲前线和北美后方广为流传,凡是听到它的人,无不为之深深打动。为了纪念这位作者和他的诗作,加拿大造币厂将这首诗的第一段印在加拿大的十元纸币上。