Poems by Alan Seeger.
If Love be not queen to him, the palace is cold and barren; the "altar unset and the candle unlit"
THE SONG OF DEATH
Like Brooke, a victim of the Hun, so Seeger, also a victim of the barbarian, seemed to feel the constant presence of Death, an unseen guest at the Feast of Youth and Joy and Fame and Love. Perhaps the war made these two imaginative poets think of Death sooner than Youth usually gives him heed. But most men will think of Death when they are face to face with the shadow day and night as were these soldier-crusading poets; when they see him stalking in every trench, in every wood, on every hill and road, and in every field and village. But how bravely he spoke of Death!—
"Learn to drive fear, then, from your heart.
If you must perish, know, O man,
'Tis an inevitable part
Of the predestined plan."
Poems by Alan Seeger.
And again in this same poem, "Makatooh," he sings of Death:
"Guard that, not bowed nor blanched with fear
You enter, but serene, erect,
As you would wish most to appear
To those you most respect.
"So die, as though your funeral
Ushered you through the doors that led
Into a stately banquet hall
Where heroes banqueted;
"And it shall all depend therein
Whether you come as slave or lord,
If they acclaim you as their kin
Or spurn you from their board."