The War Poet
“a rich nature … fighting eagerly towards the truth.”
“I have a rendezvous with death
At some disputed barricade” ~ Alan Seeger
Alan Seeger
Not all war poets are the same as Brooke.
Not all are like a cabinet display
Of Royal Worcester china in a nook,
A corner of his mother’s lounge in gray
Light, George in distant London on the throne,
Some, gung ho patriots, or others skilled
In truth, some full of agony and groan.
Most beautiful of all was Rupert, killed
Before Gallipoli, before he saw
The facts of bayonets and bullets, gas,
Bombardment, blasted brains, the cannon’s maw,
Or murder’s shine on casings made of brass.
In innocence he sailed to meet his fate.
He did not know of Seeger’s barbed wire weight.
~ Phillip Whidden