Britain honors World War I dead with poppy tributes, concerts

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow ...” is the opening line of one of the most famous poems about World War I. The red poppies that bloomed in the battlefields of Belgium and France became a powerful and lasting symbol of fallen soldiers and their spilled blood.

Britain this week begins to honor its war dead and mark the century since the Great War began -- and poppies are part of the remembrance. The moat at the Tower of London began filling with a “sea of red” ceramic poppies in August, which marked 100 years since the outbreak of World War I.

Visitors have watched the mass of poppies grow, each representing an individual loss of life. On Tuesday, which is Armistice Day, 888,246 flowers will complete the landmark “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.” “The scale of the installation intends to reflect the magnitude of such an important centenary creating a powerful visual commemoration,” the tower’s website says.

A garden of wooden crosses with a poppy motif and names of war dead sprout outside Westminster Abbey, and wreaths of poppies decorate war memorials throughout London.

Remembrance Sunday, always the second Sunday in November, will be marked by a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. “The War Requiem” by English composer Benjamin Britten will be performed this year.

The Festival of Remembrance the day before, also at the hall, will feature the debut of a musical adaptation of the poem “In Flanders Fields” by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae (the event is sold out). Queen Elizabeth II and other family members traditionally have attended the event.

But back to the poem. If you don’t know it, here’s the rest of Macrae’s work:

“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.”