Quebec

Of old, like Helen, guerdon of the strong —

Like Helen fair, like Helen light of word, —

"The spoils unto the conquerors belong.

Who winneth me must win me by the sword."

Grown old, like Helen, once the jealous prize

That strong men battled for in savage hate,

Can she look forth with unregretful eyes,

Where sleep Montcalm and Wolfe beside her gate?

John McCrae

John McCrae born in Guelph, Ontario, Canadian poet, soldier, and physician John McCrae earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Toronto, where he received the Gold Medal. McCrae’s well-known poem “In Flanders Fields” memorializes the April 1915 battle in Belgium’s Ypres salient. For 17 days, McCrae tended those injured in the battle. January 28, 1918, at the age of 45. McCrae was buried with full military honors in Wimereux Cemetery near Boulogne, France. His family home in Guelph is preserved as a museum, and the main street in Wimereux is now named Rue McCrae.

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