Alan Seeger: The Complete Works

by Amanda Harlech (Contributor), François Baudot

American writer and bohemian Alan Seeger was only 24 years old when he turned his back on New York and left for Paris, a city that seemed almost unreal to him. Once there he mingled with various artists and writers and soon developed his own literary style. But when his first volume of poems was about to be published, World War I broke out. A true romantic who wanted to live life to the fullest, Seeger joined the foreign legion and went off to war, and died after a year on the front. Seeger's poetic work is characterized by its elegant language and unmarred idealism. First published posthumously in 1916, it is only being made available to the public in the first part of this new title. Readers will discover a romantic poet--in the tradition of Keats and Rimbaud, as well as Walt Whitman--possessed with the beauty of nature and in love with the world he experiences. Parts two and three of this set include his letters and journals, and photographs by Karl Lagerfeld of the landscapes Seeger describes in his poems.

Genres: Poetry

480 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2001

Reviews

[H.]

After reading “Coucy”, I decided I can’t possibly continue reading Alan Seeger’s poetry because I feel like I’ve already weeded out the good ones (in my humble, super-not-refined, literary opinion), that is: all the SHORT good ones. I don’t like overly-long poetry.

Some of the good poems I read include:
Maktoob
I Have A Rendezvous With Death
Tezcotzinco


And, just because I enjoyed those, it doesn’t mean I need to feel obligated to read ALL of Seeger’s poetry because not all of it will be worth the read.

It’s been real, Seeger.