Poems (Dodo Press)

Alan Seeger (1888-1916) was an American poet born in New York. Seeger moved with his family to Staten Island at the age of one and remained there until the age of ten. In 1900 his family moved to Mexico for two years, which influenced the imagery of some of his poetry. Seeger joined the French Foreign Legion so that he could fight for the Allies in World War I. He was killed in action at Belloy-en-Santerre, famously cheering on his fellow soldiers in a successful charge after being hit several times himself by machine gun fire. One of his more famous poems, I Have a Rendezvous with Death, was published posthumously. Indeed, a recurrent theme in both his poetic works and his personal writings prior to falling in battle was his desire for his life to end gloriously at an early age.

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Alan Seeger (1888-1916) was an American poet." It is high-flown, heavily decorated and solemn, but its solemnity is thorough going, not a mere literary formality. Alan Seeger, as one who knew him can attest, lived his whole life on this plane, with impeccable poetic dignity; everything about him was in keeping." -- T. S. Eliot