"Penance", st. 2. From the Canadian Magazine (1896)
“
Men pass my grave, and say, "'Twere well to sleep,
Like such an one, amid the uncaring dead!"
How should they know the vigils that I keep,
The tears I shed?
— John McCrae
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Men pass my grave, and say, "'Twere well to sleep,
Like such an one, amid the uncaring dead!"
How should they know the vigils that I keep,
The tears I shed?" in the context of ""Penance", st. 2. From the Canadian Magazine (1896)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "John McCrae" (Quotes, In Flanders Fields and Other Poems (1919): New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About John McCrae
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (30 November 1872 – 28 January 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I. He is famous for writing the war memorial poem "In Flanders Fields". McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. His famous poem is a threnody, a genre of lament.
About John McCrae
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (30 November 1872 – 28 January 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I. He is famous for writing the war memorial poem "In Flanders Fields". McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. His famous poem is a threnody, a genre of lament.
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