Poem: Rendezvous with Death
(said to be one of the greatest poems written during World War I by Alan Seeger)
I Have a Rendezvous with Death
I have a rendezvous with Death
It may be he shall take my hand
God knows ‘twere better to be deep
At some disputed barricade
When Spring comes round with rustling shadeAnd apple blossoms fill the air.
I have a rendezvous with DeathWhen 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 DeathOn some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this yearAnd 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 I’ve 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.