Chapter XIV: Appendix: I Have a Rendezvous with Death

The remarkably impressive and beautiful poem by Alan Seeger which bears the above title naturally attracted universal attention. I had supposed the idea originated with Stephen Crane, who, in his novel _The Red Badge of Courage_, Chapter IX, has the following paragraph:

At last they saw him stop and stand motionless. Hastening up,
they perceived that his face wore an expression telling that
he had at last found the place for which he had struggled. His
spare figure was erect; his bloody hands were quietly at his
side. He was waiting with patience for something that he had
come to meet. He was at the rendezvous. They paused and
stood, expectant.

But I am informed both by Professor F. N. Robinson of Harvard and by Mr. Norreys Jephson O'Conor that the probable source of the title of the poem is Irish. Professor Robinson writes me, "The Irish poem that probably suggested to Seeger the title of his _Rendezvous_ is the _Reicne Fothaid Canainne_ (Song of Fothad Canainne), published by Kuno Meyer in his _Fianaigecht_ (Dublin, 1910), pp. 1-21. Seeger read the piece at one of my Celtic Conferences, and was much impressed by it. He got from it only his title and the fundamental figure of a _rendezvous_ with Death, the Irish poem being wholly different from his in general purport. Fothad Canainne makes a tryst with the wife of Ailill Flann, but is slain in battle by Ailill on the day before the night set for the meeting. Then the spirit of Fothad (or, according to one version, his severed head) sings the _reicne_ to the woman and declares (st. 3): 'It is blindness for one who makes a tryst to set aside the tryst with death.'"

Miss Amy Lowell, however, believes that Seeger got the idea from a French poet. Wherever he got it, I believe that he made it his own, for he used it supremely well, and it will always be associated with him.

At Harvard, Alan Seeger took the small and special course in Irish, and showed enthusiasm for this branch of study. Wishing to find out something about his undergraduate career, I wrote to a member of the Faculty, and received the following reply: "Many persons found him almost morbidly indifferent and unresponsive, and he seldom showed the full measure of his powers.... I grew to have a strong liking for him personally as well as a respect for his intellectual power. But I should never have expected him to show the robustness of either mind or body which we now know him to have possessed. He was frail and sickly in appearance, and seemed to have a temperament in keeping with his physique. It took a strong impulse to bring him out and disclose his real capacity."

There is no doubt that the war gave him this impulse, and that the poem _I Have a Rendezvous with Death_ must be classed among the literature directly produced by the great struggle. After four years, I should put at the head of all the immense number of verses inspired by the war John Masefield's _August 1914_, Alan Seeger's _I Have a Rendezvous with Death_, and Rupert Brooke's _The Soldier_; and of all the poems written by men actually fighting, I should put Alan Seeger's first.

While reading these proofs, the news comes of the death of a promising young American poet, Joyce Kilmer, a sergeant in our army, who fell in France, August, 1918. He was born 6 December, 1866, was a graduate of Rutgers and Columbia, and had published a number of poems. His supreme sacrifice nobly closed a life filled with beauty in word and deed.

INDEX

[Only important references are given; the mere mention of names is omitted.]

Abercrombie, D., Adams, F. P., "A. E." (G. W. Russell), personality, a sincere mystic, assurance, discovery of Stephens, influence on Susan Mitchell, Aiken, C., Andrews, C. E., _From the Front_, Arnold, M., poem on Wordsworth compared to Watson's, Arvine, W. B., Aumonier, S., quotation from, Austin, A.,

Bacon, L.,
Barker, G., production of _Dynasts_,
remark on Shaw,
Beers, H, A.,
Benét, S. V.,
Benét, W. R.,
Bishop, J. P.,
Blackwell, B. H., a publisher,
Bradley, W. A.,
Braithwaite, W. S., his anthology,
Branch, A. H., a leader,
poems,
education,
passion,
contrasted with Masters,
Bridges, R., poet-laureate,
his verse,
Brooke, R., canonized,
Gibson on,
poems,
letters,
Howland prize,
compared to De La Mare,
_The Soldier_,
Browne, T., compared to Yeats,
Browning, R., concentration,
_Pauline_,
on spiritual blessings,
lack of experience,
self-consciousness,
_Christmas Eve_,
natural poetry,
metre of _One Word More_,
_The Glove_,
Ogniben's remark,
compared to Brooke,
temperament,
contrasted with Yeats,
Masters compared to,
_Confessions_,
Burns, R., influence on democracy,
Burton, R.,
Bynner, W.,
Byron, Lord, sales of his poems,
wit compared to Watson's,
common sense,

Calderon, G., remark on Chekhov, Campbell, J., Carlin, F., Carlyle, T., remark on Cromwell, Chaucer, G., effect on Masefield, Chekhov, A., centrifugal force, Clapp, F. M., Cleghorn, S. N., Coleridge, S. T., remark on poetry, Colton, A., Colum, P., Conrad, J., compared to Scott, Cooke, E. V., Corbin, A., Crane, S., _Red Badge of Courage_, Crashaw, R., his editor,

Davidson, J.,
test of poetry,
Davies, M. C.,
Davies, W. H.,
Davis, F. S.,
De La Mare, W.,
homage to,
poems,
compared to Hawthorne,
retirement,
_Listeners_,
Shakespeare portraits,
_Old Susan_,
_Peacock Pie_,
Dodd, L. W.,
Donne, J.,
reputation,
stimulant,

Drake, F.,
German statue to,
poem by Noyes,
Drinkwater, J.,

Egan, M. F., Eliot, T. S., Emerson, R. W., prophecy on poetry, Erskine, J.,

Flecker, J. E.,
posthumous editor of,
translations,
aims,
_Oak and Olive_,
religion,
_Jerusalem_,
Fletcher, J. G.,
Foulke, W. D.,
Frost, R.,
dedication by Thomas,
poems,
theories,
outdoor poet,
realism,
tragedy,
pleasure of recognition,

Garrison, T.,
Gibson, W. W.,
homage to,
poems,
_Stonefolds_,
_Daily Bread_,
_Fires_,
_Thoroughfares_,
war poems,
_Livelihood_,
latest work,
his contribution,
Gladstone, W. E.,
eulogy by Phillips,
Glaenzer, R. B.,
Goethe, J. W.,
Flecker's translation of,
poise,
Grainger, P.,
great artist,
audacities,
Graves, R.,
Gray, T.,
on laureateship,
compared to Hodgson,
compared to Masters,
Griffis, E.,
Griffiths, W.,

Hagedorn, H.,
Hardy, T.,
a forerunner,
_Dynasts_,
idea of God,
pessimism,
thought and music,
_Moments of Vision_,
Housman's likeness to,
Hawthorne, N., compared to De La Mare.
Henley, W. E.;
compared to Thompson;
paganism;
lyrical power.
Hodgson, R.;
a recluse;
love of animals;
humour;
compared to Alice Corbin.
Hooker, B.
Housman, A. E.;
modernity;
scholarship;
likeness to Hardy;
paganism and pessimism;
lyrical power.
Hughes, R.
Hyde, D., influence.

Ibsen, H., student of the Bible.

Jacobus, D. James, H., tribute to Brooke. Johnson, R. U.

Keats, J., Phillips compared to;
influence on Amy Lowell;
Endymion;
Amy Lowell's sonnet on.
Kilmer, J.
Kipling, R.;
imperial laureate;
_Recessional_;
popularity;
influence on soldiers;
Watson's allusion to;
_Danny Deever_.

Landor, W. S., his violence.
Lawrence, D. H.
Ledwidge, F.
Leonard, W. E.
Lewis, C. M.
Lindsay, N. V.;
Harriet Monroe's magazine;
_Booth_;
development;
drawings;
"games";
_Congo,_
_Niagara_;
prose;
chants;
geniality;
_Esther_.
Locke, W. J., his dreams.
Low, B. R. C.
Lowell, A. L., love of liberty.
Lowell, Amy, essay on Frost;
poems;
training;
free verse;
imagism;
_Sword Blades_;
narrative skill;
polyphonic prose;
versatility;
remark on Seeger.
Lowell, P., influence on Amy.

MacDonagh, T.
Mackaye, P.;
stipend for poets;
poems.
MacLeish, A.
Macterlinck, M., compared to Yeats;
rhythmical prose.
Markham, E.
Marquis, D.
Masefield, J., homage to;
poems;
the modern Chaucer;
education;
_Dauber_;
critical power;
relation to Wordsworth;
_Everlasting Mercy_;
_Widow in the Bye Street_;
_Daffodil Fields_;
compared to Tennyson;
_August, 1914_;
lyrics;
sonnets;
_Rosas_;
novels;
general contribution;
Drinkwater's dedication;
Aiken's relation to.
Masters, E. L.;
education;
_Spoon River_;
irony;
love of truth;
analysis;
cynicism;
idealism.
Meredith, G., his poems.
Middleton, S.
Milton, J., his invocation;
Piedmont sonnet.
Mitchell, S.
Monroe, H., her magazine;
her anthology;
poems.
Moody, W. V.
Morley, J., remarks on Irishmen
and Wordsworth.
Munger, R.

Neihardt, J. G.
Nichols, R.
Nicholson, M., poems;
remark on college stories.
Noyes, A., homage to;
poems;
education;
singing power;
_Tramp Transfigured_;
his masterpiece;
child imagination;
sea poetry;
_Drake_;
_May-Tree_;
new effects;
war poems;
optimism.

O'Conor, N. J., poems; remark on Seeger. O'Sullivan, S.

Peabody, J. P.
Percy, W. A.
Phillips, S.;
sudden fame;
education;
_Marpessa_;
realism;
_Gladstone_;
protest against Masefleld.
Pierce, F. E.

Quarles, F., quoted. Quiller-Couch, A., remark on the _Daffodil Fields_.

Rand, K. Reedy, W. M., relation to Masters. Rice, C. Y. Riley, J. W., remark on Henley; "Riley Day"; remark on Anna Branch; a conservative. Rittenhouse, J. B. Robinson, C. R. Robinson, E. A. Robinson, F. N., remark on Seeger. Rogers, R. C.

Sandburg, C.
Santayana, G.
Sassoon, S.
Scott, W., compared to Conrad;
sales of his poems.
Seeger, A.;
Low's dedication;
source of his poem.
Service, R. W., likeness to Kipling.
Shakespeare, W., compared to Wordsworth;
compared to Masefleld;
portraits by De La Mare;
poem on by Masters.
Shaw, G. B., _Major Barbara_.
Spingarn, J., creative criticism.
Squire, J. C., introduction to
Flecker
Stephens, J.,
novels;
discovered by A. E.;
realism;
child-poetry;
power of cursing.
Stevenson, R. L.,
remark on Whitman.
Stork, C. W.
Swinburne, A. C.,
critical violence,
Lindsay's likeness to;
Lindsay's use of.
Synge, J. M.,
advice from Yeats;
works;
versatility;
bitterness;
theory of poetry;
autobiographical poems;
thoughts on death;
influence on Stephens.

Teasdale, S.
Tennyson, A.,
continued popularity of;
his invocation;
compared to Hardy;
early poems on death;
compared to Masefield,;
his memoirs;
his reserve;
quality of his poetry.
Thomas, E.
Thomas, E. M.
Thompson, F.,
compared to Henley;
religious passion;
_In No Strange Land_;
_Lilium Regis_;
Noyes's ode to;
Flecker's poem on.
Trench, H.

Underwood, J. C. Untermeyer, L. Updegraff, A.

Van Dyke, H. Vaughan, H., quoted. Vielé, H. K.

Wallis, J. H.
Watson, W.
poor start;
address in America;
_King Alfred_;
_Wordsworth's Grave_;
epigrams;
_How Weary is Our Heart_;
hymn of hate;
war poems,
_Yellow Pansy_;
Byronic wit;
_Eloping Angels_;
dislike of new poetry.
Weaving, W.
Wells, H. G.
religious position.
Whitman, W.
natural style;
_Man of War Bird_;
early conventionality;
Stevenson's remark on;
growth of reputation;
Sandburg's relation.
Whitney, H. H.
Whitsett, W. T.
Widdemer, M.
Wilcox, E. W.
Willcocks, M. P.
remark on will.
Woodberry, G. E.
Wordsworth, W.
compared to Shakespeare;
Watson's poem on;
Masefield's relations to.

Yeats, W. B.
education;
devotion to art;
his names;
love poetry;
dramas;
prose;
mysticism;
relation to Lindsay.

Younghusband, G.
remark on Kipling