Alfred Joyce Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on December 6, 1886. He graduated from Columbia University in 1908. From 1909 to 1912 he worked as a dictionary editor for Funk and Wagnall's. He served as Literary Editor of the "The Churchman," an Anglican newspaper, and in 1913 became a writer for The New York Times. The same year he would first publish the poem which made him famous - Trees.
When the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917, Kilmer was a family man, with a wife and 2 children. He would not have been required to serve. He enlisted anyway.
Kilmer quickly attained the rank of Sergeant, then was assigned to the Regiment's Intelligence staff. As such, Kilmer had no front line responsibilities, but he would not be kept entirely out of action while his comrades were at risk.
On July 30, 1918, during the battle of the Ourcq, he attached himself as adjutant to Major William Donovan, commanding the First Battalion. Donovan's previous adjutant had been killed in combat the day before, just as Kilmer would be killed this day. A sniper's bullet ended the soldier-poet's life. He died, at age 31, facing the enemy.
He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for bravery. Better, though, they named a forest after him.
Far from being a one-trick pony, Kilmer published many poems before he died, as well as a little prose. The same year Trees was published, Robert Frost published his first publicly important book, North of Boston. Makes you wonder how things might have turned out for Kilmer if he'd lived through the war.
Selected poems and prose are accessible through the links below. www.blockhead.com includes a sonnet Kilmer wrote for his mother - it is neither sappy nor sucky, a difficult trick to pull off. www.hourigan.com features a picture of Kilmer in a fruity little helmet.
Books:
The Circus, and Other Essays
Complete Poems of Joyce Kilmer
The Courage of Enlightenment: An Address
The Fugitive Pieces
Literature In the Making, By Some of Its Makers
Main Street, and Other Poems
Summer of Love
Trees and Other Poems
Trees & Other Poems & Candles That Burn (by Joyce and Aline M. Kilmer)
thanks to:
http://www.blockhead.com/kilmer.htm
http://www.hourigan.com/~69thny/newpage5.htm
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_national_forest/nc/hik_kilm.htm
www.amazon.com
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