Human Flower Project

Friday, November 11, 2005

Red Poppies—Gentling War

The red poppy, and ritual remembrance, numb the realities of war.

Kaiser Wilhelm’s Merry-Go-Round
Kazimir Malevich,  c. 1915
Image: Library of Congress

At the 11th hour of the 11th month of the 11th day, Allied powers signed the Armistice with Germany in 1918, ending World War I.

The moment will be remembered today in many countries, including Australia the U.S., and the United Kingdom.

We were especially interested in a story from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, where November 11th is known as Remembrance Day. On Wednesday, veterans of World War II planted tulip bulbs in Bellevue Park, honoring the Canadian and Allied forces who liberated Holland (and Europe) 60 years ago. (Check out the video!) The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Ottawa donated 750 bulbs for the Veterans Memorial International Friendship Garden, the city contributed 1000 bulbs and “the Sault Ste. Marie Firefighters Association donated 750 more.” Six months from now, people here should have a stunning display of tulips and, perhaps, another occasion of remembrance.

Papaver rhoeas

The traditional war memorial flower among the former Allies is, of course, the red poppy, papaver rhoeas. It was Canadian physician John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders fields the poppies blow” (published December 8, 1915) that inspired poppy-wearing for Armistice Day. He, and others, too, noted how the red wildflower spread and bloomed across battlefields, an ethereal image of bloodshed. “In France’s Belleau Wood, Cantigny, and Chateau Thierry, war took place on battlefields that held wheat interspersed with the Corn Poppy…. Scientists have concluded the soil was not rich enough in lime to allow the poppies to flourish, however the rubble produce(d) from fighting introduced great quantities of lime into the soil.” This World War One scholar’s blog, quoting Paul Fussell, notes that in the same fields “blue cornflowers were as prolific as red poppies, but do not have the colour connotations. ‘corneflowers are blue, and just won’t do.’”

One of the most thoroughgoing and fine analyses of flower symbolism we’ve found is this superb essay by Stacy Chambless entitled “A Memorial in Scarlet.” The article carefully documents poppy symbolism from ancient Greece to the current war in Iraq, with special emphasis on rites of remembrance. Chambless writes:

“Although the poppies of Flanders do not contain opium, the association with narcosis remains. This association is especially important in the ritual of remembrance, helping to console the bereaved.” Thus the poppy both provokes a painful memory and alleviates the pain: a powerful example of how human flower projects of all sorts seem to work.

Canadian veterans of WW II
wear poppies & plant tulip bulbs
Veterans Internat’l Friendship Garden
Sault Ste. Marie, Canada
Photo: LTV News

Chambless goes on: “The actual act of remembrance comes under scrutiny, with questions being raised as to how much it serves to console, as much as to mask the terrible reality of death in war. By masking, it is meant that remembrance becomes a ritual used to ‘blot out’ the horrible reality of, in this case war, and the First World War in particular. Naturally, the truth is far too disturbing to continually be exposed, so the ritual of remembrance helps to create a more ‘comfortable’ memory of the deceased. This is most noticeable, for example, on Remembrance Sunday, when the wearing of an artificial poppy, and the two-minute silence in recognition of those who gave their lives, saves one from having to dwell on the specific details of the deaths of millions of men killed while serving their country.”

These careful observations don’t (in fact, can’t) diminish human rituals like the war-memorial poppy.  “Scrutiny” only compounds the genius of human culture. In a small way, it can glorify the ongoing communion of people and plants on Earth.