Poems

Seeger, Alan, 1888-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 206K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Poems by Alan SeegerAuthor: Seeger, Alan, 1888-1916,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 1, 1996

Editor's review

This Poems is an electronic collection of Alan Seeger's poetry, drawn from the public-domain text at Project Gutenberg. Seeger was born in 1888 and died in combat in 1916 during World War I; his verse is often regarded as a distinctive voice in the English poetry of that war. The collection gathers his poems in English and is modest in length, making it a suitable introduction to early twentieth-century American poetry and the lyric tradition of war. Its value lies not in systematic literary history but in firsthand text: readers can directly sense how that generation expressed youth, ideals, and death. As a public-domain e-book, it is easy to obtain and well suited to casual reading on an electronic device. There is no need to read it in one sitting; one may choose poems by title and linger over short pieces. Note that this is not an academic edition with detailed annotations, so background information must be supplied by the reader; the language and allusions bear the marks of their era, and modern readers may need some experience with English poetry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature enthusiasts interested in English poetry of World War I
Readers who wish to encounter early twentieth-century American poetry texts
Students with English reading ability who enjoy short lyric poems
Self-learners who want to sample poetry through low-cost electronic texts

Not a good fit for

Research-oriented readers who need detailed annotations and scholarly introductions
General readers with limited English reading experience who prefer Chinese translations
Beginners who expect a systematic literary-historical context rather than raw texts

Reading tips

First read through the table of contents and choose poems by title and length that interest you; there is no need to read from beginning to end.
Keep a notebook to record recurring images and themes, so that individual poems can be understood within the whole.
When a line's allusion or historical background is unclear, read it alongside historical material on World War I.
Read only three to five poems at a time and leave intervals for rereading; short poems reveal more layers on a second reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese translation or the original English edition?

According to the available information, the book is in English: it is a public-domain e-text released by Project Gutenberg, not a Chinese translation. Readers need a reasonable command of English to read the poems in the original and appreciate their rhythm and diction.

Who was the author, Alan Seeger?

The information gives his dates as 1888–1916; no further biographical details are provided. What is certain is that his poems belong to early twentieth-century English-language poetry, and readers should rely primarily on the texts themselves rather than assuming extensive biographical background.

Does this edition include notes or an introduction?

The information indicates that this is a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, released as a raw text, with no mention of scholarly notes or an introduction. Readers who need background explanation should consult relevant literary histories and historical materials separately.

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About the author

Seeger, Alan, 1888-1916 Author · American · 1888–1916

Alan Seeger (1888–1916) was an American poet. Public information about him is limited; he is best known for serving in the French Foreign Legion and dying in the First World War. Only one collection, Poems, has come down to us, and among its pieces “I Have a Rendezvous with Death” is the most familiar. With its calm tone in the face of death, the poem captures the mood of a volunteer in the war and has made Seeger a distinctive voice in the English war poetry of his time. His writing draws largely on wartime experience and personal feeling, with a solemn style and clear rhythm that combine Romantic lyricism with the grave realities of war. Though his output was small, Seeger is remembered by later readers both for his life and for his verse, which is often included in anthologies of war poetry.