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August 6, 2014
Sonnet 2: Not that I always struck the proper mean
by Alan Seeger
Not that I always struck the proper mean
Of what mankind must give for what they gain,
But, when I think of those whom dull routine
And the pursuit of cheerless toil enchain,
Who from their desk-chairs seeing a summer cloud
Race through blue heaven on its joyful course
Sigh sometimes for a life less cramped and bowed,
I think I might have done a great deal worse;
For I have ever gone untied and free,
The stars and my high thoughts for company;
Wet with the salt-spray and the mountain showers,
I have had the sense of space and amplitude,
And love in many places, silver-shoed,
Has come and scattered all my path with flowers.
Alan Seeger’s promising poetic career was cut short when he died serving in the French Foreign Legion during World War I. He is best known for his war poem, “I Have a Rendezvous with Death,” and has often been compared with Rupert Brooke, a contemporary English soldier-poet who also died in World War I.
Posted by gerardvanderleun at August 6, 2014 8:07 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.