Rouge_Bouquet_(poem)
Rouge Bouquet (poem)
WWI Poem by Joyce Kilmer
"Rouge Bouquet" or "The Wood Called Rouge Bouquet" is a lyric poem written in 1918 by American poet, essayist, critic and soldier Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918). The poem commemorates an intense German artillery bombardment of an American trench position in the Rouge Bouquet wood near the French village of Baccarat on 7 March 1918 that resulted in the loss of 19 American soldiers with the 165th Infantry Regiment (better known as New York National Guard's, "The Fighting 69th Regiment"), of 42nd Rainbow Division.[2][3]: pp.167–171, 175–176.
Kilmer was a corporal at that time in the 165th Infantry Regiment, and he composed the poem immediately after the attack.[4] It was first read a few days later as a eulogy by Chaplain Francis Duffy during "the funeral service held at the collapsed dugout, the tomb of the regiment's first men slain in battle".[5][3]: pp.175–176 The poem was first published in the 16 August 1918 issue of "Stars and Stripes", two weeks after Kilmer's death in battle on 30 July 1918 during the Second Battle of the Marne.[6][7][8] The poem was read over Kilmer's own grave when he was interred in France. To this day, it is a tradition of the Fighting 69th to read the poem at memorial services for fallen members of the regiment.
The reader will notice that at several points the words fall into the rhythm of "Taps".