The paradox in "I have a rendezvous with Death" by Seeger Essay

The irony is evident when Seeger writes, "When Spring comes back with rustling shade I have a rendezvous with death." (Seeger). This allows for an interesting contrast between the life and beauty of spring and the cold, grim nature of death. Another instance of this is "I have a rendezvous with Death when spring brings back blue days and fair." (Seeger). Seeger uses diction in an artful manner in order to achieve contradictory meanings. An example of such a paradox is in the sentence, "I have a rendezvous with Death" (Seeger). This particular sentence is intriguing as the word rendezvous is often used as a welcoming encounter however, in this sentence it is used to represent an encounter with death which is entirely unknown to anyone living and feared by nearly all. Seeger also employs a free flowing rhyme scheme which feels capricious to read. Such instances are evident when he writes, "It may be he shall take my hand, and lead me into his dark" (Seeger) and "It may be I shall pass him still, I have a rendezvous with Death, on some scarred slope of a battered hill." (Seeger).
For soldiers who took part in the First World War, the risk of dying loomed as a grim possibility. I Have a Rendezvous with Death is the story of a young soldier confronted with that probable prospect. Alan Seeger who lived in England at the time, enlisted in the Foreign Legion of France due to his sense of duty and cultural values. This sense of patriotism and duty translates into Seeger's writing. It is evident that the author does not cower from death and instead boldly embraces its possibility. This is evident when he writes in the last stanza, "And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous." (Seeger). It can be understood that Seeger wanted to communicate to the people that it was a noble and patriotic act to die for one's country.
I Have a Rendezvous with Death is an excellent example of a modernistic period of writing. Seeger's account is a first person narrative which was common in most modernist works. This can be seen when he writes, "And close my eyes and quench my breath, It may be I shall pass him still." (Seeger). Also like most modernist works, Seeger's elegy is a stream of consciousness with no actual events transpiring. Irony is also evident throughout the story which furthers the modernistic argument. Perhaps no sentence exemplifies this as much as, "When spring comes back with rustling shade, and apple-blossoms fill the air- I have a rendezvous with death." (Seeger). Modernistic writing is often characterized as by the era between the two World Wars. The setting of a war can be understood when Seeger writes, "I have a rendezvous with Death, at some disputed barricade" (Seeger). As the story deals with the struggles of the First World War, it can be classified as a modernistic piece of writing through a