Alan Seeger Natural Area

Alan Seeger Natural Area is a bit unique, in that it has been largely untouched by humans. You can feel the aura of the place, and it just seems 'old'.

Alan Seeger was a soldier and poet who died during World War One, and it's unclear why the area is named for him, since it is unlikely he ever knew of its existence. There is probably no connection between Alan Seeger and the area named for him, except, perhaps, that they are both poetic.

Here is one of his prophetic poems:

Rendezvous
by Alan Seeger

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.

It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath--
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.

God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear . . .
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.

Courtesy of Hikepa.com

http://www.hikepa.com/trails/central/