4th July and while we think of the Somme as a British battle, that is far from the truth. The French were active on the Somme before the British became involved and continued to support the mainly British operations there throughout the Battle of Albert. Among the French troops were units of the Foreign Legion and enlisted in the Legion was poet Alan Seeger. Seeger joined at the outset of the war and saw action on the Aisne, down the Chemin des Dames and in the Battle of Champagne. He implored wine drinkers to Drink sometimes…to those whose blood, in pious duty shed/Hallows the soil where that same wine had birth (Champagne 1914-1915). Like all good bohemians he had a weak chest - that contractual obligation to have consumption! He was however resolute and overcame bronchitis and returned to the front. He was like Siegfried Sassoon a great one for scouting, patrols and raids. On 4th July he was killed by machine gun fire during an attack on Belloy en Santerre. His most famous poem was written during this period, prophetically it predicted his rendezvous with Death... I have a rendezvous with Death At some disputed barricade, When Spring comes back with rustling shade And apple-blossoms fill the air— I have a rendezvous with Death When Spring brings back blue days and fair. It may be he shall take my hand And lead me into his dark land And close my eyes and quench my breath— It may be I shall pass him still. I have a rendezvous with Death On some scarred slope of battered hill, When Spring comes round again this year And the first meadow-flowers appear. God knows twere better to be deep Pillowed in silk and scented down, Where love throbs out in blissful sleep, Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath, Where hushed awakenings are dear... But Ive a rendezvous with Death At midnight in some flaming town, When Spring trips north again this year, And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous. To this day the poem is an icon of American Airborne forces...
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 08:21:15 +0000
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