In Flandern Fields – We shall keep the faith
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.
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
“C’est cela qu’ici, ensemble, représentants de nos vingt-huit pays unis, nous réaffirmons. Nous sommes les gardiens de la vigilance. C’est à nous que revient – en acte et en paroles – d’enrayer les spirales et surenchères, d’entretenir la confiance, de sauvegarder la paix – cette paix qu’on peutrêver perpétuelle – zum ewigen Frieden. Que donc ce simple jardin et ce simple banc rond, propice au recueillement, représentent à jamais notre cercle européen, notre engagement pour un vivre-ensemble heureux, paisible et toujours ouvert vers le monde.”
Herman Van Rompuy, Ypres, June 26, 2014