Charles-Francois Daubigny ~ Field of Poppies, Flanders Field & The Wizard of Oz

Poppy Fields seem to abound on the internet. One of the most delightful ones other than Monet's and Daubigny's is this one posted on You Tube. Your imagination can run wild with what L. Frank Baum, the Populist Democrat, intended when he created this poppy field scene in The Wizard of Oz.



And of course there is Flanders Fields dedicated by John McCrae to his friend and others who died in World War I.

In Flanders Fields

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.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

Sleep and death both seem to be symbols of the poppy.

And just so there is some reference to Daubigny on our final day, here is a compendium of images of his work set to Mozart. You Tube is quite wonderful, isn't it?