Monument Details

Alan Seeger Cenotaph -Ossuary No. 1

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Details:

In the back part of the cemetery. It is on the right end of the cemetery's ossuaries (there are 4 total).

Cenotaph

The ossuary is an elevated rectangular area, about a meter high, parallel to the back of the cemetery. A stone wall surrounds a planted area, in which are the remains of hundreds of soldiers of the French Foreign Legion, including Alan Seeger. Alan Seeger was an American poet who fought and died in World War I while serving with the French Foreign Legion.�

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Each ossuary is separated from the adjacent one by a stone divider that runs through the planted area. Ossuary N�1 and N�2 have a 2-3 meter-high stone wall behind them with some of the names of people in the respective ossuaries.

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Alan Seeger was a poet.�

His most famous poem, "I Have a Rendezvous with Death", is believed to have been completed during a winter 1916 bivouac in France and was published posthumously. It begins:

I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.

Monument Text:

Ossuaire N�1

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English Translation:

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Ossuary No. 1

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At the bottom of the center panel:

SEEGER, ALAN. � � � � RMLE

Commemorates:

People:

Alan Seeger

Units:

French Foreign Legion

Wars:

WWI

Other images :

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