Editing Joyce Kilmer (section)

==Biography==

===Early years and education: 1886–1908===
[[File:17 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ - Joyce Kilmer House.jpg|thumb|Birthplace at 17 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, New Brunswick]]
Kilmer was born December 6, 1886, in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]],<ref>Certificate of Birth for Alfred Joyce Kilmer, December 6, 1886, on microfilm at the Archives of the State of New Jersey, 225 West State Street, Trenton, New Jersey.</ref> the fourth and youngest child,<ref group="note">Per Miriam A. Kilmer's website ([http://www.risingdove.com/Kilmer/FAQ.asp located here]. Retrieved August 14, 2012), Joyce was the fourth and youngest; however, two of his siblings, sister Ellen Annie Kilmer (1875–1876) and brother Charles Willoughby Kilmer (1880–1880), died before his birth. Kilmer's older, surviving brother, Anda Frederick Kilmer (1873–1899), died when Joyce was thirteen years old—most likely a suicide—in a Philadelphia hotel.</ref> of Annie Ellen Kilburn (1849–1932), a minor writer and composer,<ref name="PoetryMagazineBio"/><ref>"Mrs. F. B. Kilmer Dead; Mother of War Poet. Wrote of Memories of Her Son Who Was Killed in France in 1918. Was Native of Albany." ''The New York Times.'' January 2, 1932. (Retrieved August 14, 2012).</ref> and Dr. [[Frederick Barnett Kilmer]] (1851–1934), a physician and analytical chemist employed by the [[Johnson & Johnson|Johnson and Johnson Company]] and inventor of the company's [[baby powder]].<ref name=Miriam>[http://www.risingdove.com/Kilmer/FAQ.asp Joyce Kilmer: FAQ and Fancies], website published by Miriam A. Kilmer, with Kilmer genealogical information. Retrieved December 26, 2006.</ref><ref>For Dr. Kilmer as the inventor of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder, see: Reuter, Annie. "Famous Tree Poem originates at U." ''The Daily Targum'' October 12, 2004.</ref><ref>See also Johnson & Johnson's [http://www.jnj.com/connect/about-jnj/company-history/founders/ Our History: People who made a difference] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081115234705/http://www.jnj.com/connect/about-jnj/company-history/founders/ |date=November 15, 2008 }}. (Retrieved August 14, 2012).</ref> He was named Alfred Joyce Kilmer after two priests at [[Christ Church (New Brunswick, New Jersey)|Christ Church]] in New Brunswick: Alfred R. Taylor, the curate; and the Rev. Dr. Elisha Brooks Joyce (1857–1926), the rector. Christ Church is the oldest [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] parish in New Brunswick and the Kilmer family were parishioners.<ref>Durnin, Richard G. "Joyce Kilmer and New Brunswick, New Jersey." (New Brunswick, NJ: Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, 1993).</ref> Rector Joyce, who served the parish from 1883 to 1916, baptised the young Kilmer,<ref>Baptismal Records for Christ Church, New Brunswick, New Jersey.</ref> who remained an Episcopalian until his 1913 conversion to Catholicism. Kilmer's birthplace in New Brunswick, where the Kilmer family lived from 1886 to 1892, is still standing and houses a small museum to Kilmer, as well as a few [[Middlesex County, New Jersey|Middlesex County]] government offices.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newbrunswick.com/historic.asp#jk |title=Historic New Brunswick |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310054802/http://www.newbrunswick.com/historic.asp |archive-date=March 10, 2007}}, published by New Brunswick City Market, (no further authorship information given) Retrieved August 17, 2006.</ref>

Kilmer entered Rutgers College Grammar School (now [[Rutgers Preparatory School]]) in 1895 at the age of 8. During his years at the Grammar School, Kilmer was editor-in-chief of the school's paper, the ''Argo'', and loved the classics but had difficulty with Greek. He won the first Lane Classical Prize, for oratory, and obtained a scholarship to Rutgers College which he would attend the following year. Despite his difficulties with Greek and mathematics, he stood at the head of his class in preparatory school.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.9}}

After graduating from Rutgers College Grammar School in 1904, he continued his education at [[Rutgers University|Rutgers College]] (now Rutgers University) from 1904 to 1906. At Rutgers, Kilmer was associate editor of the ''[[The Daily Targum|Targum]]'', the [[college newspaper|campus newspaper]], and a member of the [[Delta Upsilon]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oE1AAAAAIAAJ&q=fraternity|title=Memories of My Son Sergeant Joyce Kilmer|first=Annie|last=Kilburn Kilmer|publisher=Brentano's|year=1920|page=3|access-date=April 25, 2014}}</ref> However, he was unable to complete the curriculum's rigorous mathematics requirement and was asked to repeat his sophomore year. Under pressure from his mother, Kilmer transferred to [[Columbia University]] in New York City.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.10}}

At Columbia, Kilmer was vice-president of the [[Philolexian Society]] (a literary society), associate editor of ''[[Columbia Spectator]]'' (the campus newspaper), and member of the Debating Union. He completed his [[Bachelor of Arts]] (A.B.) degree and graduated from Columbia on May 23, 1908.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.11}} Shortly after graduation, on June 9, 1908, he married [[Aline Murray Kilmer|Aline Murray]] (1888–1941), a fellow poet to whom he had been engaged since his sophomore year at Rutgers.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.11}}<ref>Certificate of Marriage for Aline Murray and Alfred Joyce Kilmer, June 9, 1908, on microfilm at the Archives of the State of New Jersey, 225 West State Street, Trenton, New Jersey.</ref> The Kilmers had five children: Kenton Sinclair Kilmer (1909–1995); Rose Kilburn Kilmer (1912–1917); Deborah Clanton Kilmer (1914–1999), who became a nun ("Sister Michael") at the [[Saint Benedict's Monastery (St. Joseph, Minnesota)|Saint Benedict Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota]]; Michael Barry Kilmer (1916–1927); and Christopher Kilmer (1917–1984).<ref name=Miriam/>

===Years of writing and faith: 1909–1917===
[[File:Kilmer Home Mahwah New Jersey.jpg|thumb|right|The Kilmer family lived in this home on Airmount Road in Mahwah, New Jersey. It was here that his poem "Trees" was written in February 1913.]]
In the autumn of 1908, Kilmer was employed teaching Latin at [[Morristown High School]] in [[Morristown, New Jersey]].<ref name="PoetryMagazineBio" /> At this time, he began to submit essays to ''Red Cross Notes'' (including his first published piece, an essay on the "Psychology of Advertising") and his early poems to literary periodicals. Kilmer also wrote book reviews for ''The Literary Digest'', ''[[Town & Country (magazine)|Town & Country]]'', ''[[The Nation]]'', and ''[[The New York Times]]''. By June 1909, Kilmer had abandoned any aspirations to continue teaching and relocated to New York City, where he focused solely on developing a career as a writer.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.13}}

From 1909 to 1912, Kilmer was employed by [[Funk and Wagnalls]], which was preparing an edition of ''The Standard Dictionary'' that would be published in 1912.<ref name="PoetryMagazineBio" /> According to Hillis, Kilmer's job "was to define ordinary words assigned to him at five cents for each word defined. This was a job at which one would ordinarily earn ten to twelve dollars a week, but Kilmer attacked the task with such vigor and speed that it was soon thought wisest to put him on a regular salary."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.14}}

In 1911, Kilmer's first book of verse was published, entitled ''Summer of Love.'' Kilmer later wrote, "some of the poems in it, those inspired by genuine love, are not things of which to be ashamed, and you, understanding, would not be offended by the others."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.18}}

In 1912, Kilmer became a special writer for the ''[[New York Times Book Review|New York Times Review of Books]]'' and the ''[[New York Times Sunday Magazine]]'' and was often engaged in lecturing.<ref name="PoetryMagazineBio" /> He moved to [[Mahwah, New Jersey]], where he resided until his service and death in [[World War I]]. By this time he had become established as a published poet and as a popular lecturer. According to Robert Holliday, Kilmer "frequently neglected to make any preparation for his speeches, not even choosing a subject until the beginning of the dinner which was to culminate in a specimen of his oratory. His constant research for the dictionary, and, later on, for his New York Times articles, must have given him a store of knowledge at his fingertips to be produced at a moment's notice for these emergencies."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.21}}<ref name=holliday>Holliday, Robert Cortes (ed.). "Memoir" in ''Joyce Kilmer: Poems, Essays and Letters.'' 2 volumes. (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1918), 1:24.</ref>

When the Kilmers' daughter Rose (1912–1917) was stricken with [[poliomyelitis]] (also known as infantile paralysis) shortly after birth,<ref name="PoetryMagazineBio" /> they turned to their religious faith for comfort. A series of correspondence between Kilmer and Fr. James J. Daly led the Kilmers to convert to Catholicism, and they were [[Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults|received in the church]] in 1913. In one of these letters, Kilmer writes that he "believed in the Catholic position, the Catholic view of ethics and aesthetics, for a long time," and he "wanted something not intellectual, some conviction not mental – in fact I wanted Faith." Kilmer would stop "every morning for months" on his way "to the office and prayed for faith," claiming that when "faith did come, it came, I think, by way of my little paralyzed daughter. Her lifeless hands led me; I think her tiny feet know beautiful paths. You understand this and it gives me a selfish pleasure to write it down."<ref>Letter from Joyce Kilmer to Father James J. Daly, January 9, 1914, in Holliday, Robert Cortes (ed.) and Kilmer, Joyce. ''Poems, Essays and Letters in Two Volumes''. (New York: George H. Doran, 1918 – ''published posthumously'').</ref><ref>Daly, James Jeremiah. "Some letters of Joyce Kilmer." in his ''A Cheerful Ascetic, and other essays''. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Bruce, 1931), 76–86.</ref>

With the publication of [[Trees (poem)|"Trees"]] in the magazine ''[[Poetry Magazine|Poetry]]'' in August 1913, Kilmer gained immense popularity as a poet across the United States. He had established himself as a successful lecturer—particularly one seeking to reach a Catholic audience. His close friend and editor Robert Holliday wrote that it "is not an unsupported assertion to say that he was in his time and place the laureate of the Catholic Church."<ref name="holliday" /> ''Trees and Other Poems'' (1914) was published the following year. This collection also introduced the popular poem "The House With Nobody In It". Over the next few years, Kilmer was prolific in his output, managing an intense schedule of lectures, publishing a large number of essays and literary criticism, and writing poetry. In 1915 he became poetry editor of ''Current Literature'' and contributing editor of ''Warner's Library of the World's Best Literature''. In 1916 and 1917, before the [[American entry into World War I]], Kilmer would publish four books: ''The Circus and Other Essays'' (1916), a series of interviews with literary personages entitled ''Literature in the Making'' (1917), ''Main Street and Other Poems'' (1917), and ''Dreams and Images: An Anthology of Catholic Poets'' (1917).<ref name="PoetryMagazineBio" /> In the aftermath of the 1916 [[Easter Rising]] in Ireland, Kilmer helped organize a large memorial service in New Yorks Central Park for those who died in that conflict.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macardle |first=Dorothy |author-link= |date=1965 |title=The Irish Republic |url= |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |page=191 |isbn=}}</ref> 

===War years: 1917–1918===
[[File:Joyce Kilmer.jpg|thumb|Sgt. Joyce Kilmer, as a member of the [[165th Infantry Regiment]], United States Army, c. 1918]]

In April 1917, a few days after the United States entered [[World War I]], Kilmer enlisted in the Seventh Regiment of the [[New York National Guard]]. In August, Kilmer was assigned as a statistician with the [[165th Infantry Regiment]] (better known as the re-designated "Fighting 69th", the [[69th New York Infantry Regiment]]), of the [[42nd Infantry Division (United States)|42nd "Rainbow" Division]], and quickly rose to the rank of [[Sergeant#United States|sergeant]]. Though he was eligible for commission as an officer and often recommended for such posts during the course of the war, Kilmer refused, stating that he would rather be a sergeant in the Fighting 69th than an officer in any other regiment.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.35}}

Shortly before his deployment to Europe, the Kilmers' daughter Rose died, and twelve days later their son Christopher was born.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.32}} Before his departure, Kilmer had contracted with publishers to write a book about the war, deciding upon the title ''Here and There with the Fighting Sixty-Ninth''. The regiment arrived in France in November 1917, and Kilmer wrote to his wife that he had not written "anything in prose or verse since I got here—except statistics—but I've stored up a lot of memories to turn into copy when I get a chance."<ref>Letter from Joyce Kilmer to Aline Kilmer, November 24, 1917 in Kilmer, Joyce with Holliday, Robert Cortes (editor). ''Poems, Essays and Letters in Two Volumes.'' (1918).</ref> Kilmer did not write such a book; however, toward the end of the year, he did find time to write prose sketches and poetry. The most notable of his poems during this period was "[[Rouge Bouquet (poem)|Rouge Bouquet]]" (1918) which commemorated the deaths of two dozen members of his regiment in a German artillery barrage on American trench positions in the [[Rouge Bouquet|Rouge Bouquet forest]] north-east of the French village of [[Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle|Baccarat]]. At the time, this was a relatively quiet sector of the front, but the first battalion was struck by a German [[heavy artillery]] [[bombardment]] on the afternoon of March 7, 1918, that buried 21 men of the unit, killing 19 (of which 14 remained entombed).<ref>[http://www.aboutjonesfamily.com/PAGES/DIARY3.HTM World War I Diary of Joseph J. Jones Sr.], published at website "One Jones Family" by Joseph J. Jones III. Retrieved December 27, 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.69thny.com/rouge_bouquet.htm The History of the Fighting 69th: Rouge Bouquet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929201057/http://www.69thny.com/rouge_bouquet.htm |date=September 29, 2007 }} (no further authorship information given). Retrieved December 27, 2006.</ref><ref name="Duffy">{{cite book|author= Duffy, Francis Patrick|title=Father Duffy's Story|url=https://archive.org/stream/fatherduffysstor00duffuoft/fatherduffysstor00duffuoft_djvu.txt|year=1919|publisher=New York: George H. Doran Company}}</ref>{{rp|p.350}}

Kilmer sought more hazardous duty and was transferred to the [[military intelligence]] section of his regiment, in April 1918. In a letter to his wife, Aline, he remarked: "Now I'm doing work I love – and work you may be proud of. None of the drudgery of soldiering, but a double share of glory and thrills."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.36}} According to Hillis, Kilmer's fellow soldiers had accorded him much respect for his battlefield demeanour—"He was worshipped by the men about him. I have heard them speak with awe of his coolness and his nerve in scouting patrols in [[no man's land]]. This coolness and his habit of choosing, with typical enthusiasm, the most dangerous and difficult missions, led to his death."<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.36}}

===Death and burial===
During the [[Second Battle of Marne]] there was heavy fighting throughout the last days of July 1918. On July 30, 1918, Kilmer volunteered to accompany Major [[William J. Donovan|"Wild Bill" Donovan]] (later, in World War II, the founder of the [[Office of Strategic Services]], forerunner to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]) when Donovan's battalion (1–165th Infantry) was sent to lead the day's attack.

During the course of the day, Kilmer led a scouting party to find the position of a German machine gun. When his comrades found him, some time later, they thought at first that he was peering over the edge of a little hill, where he had crawled for a better view. When he did not answer their call, they ran to him and found him dead. According to Father [[Francis P. Duffy]]: "A bullet had pierced his brain. His body was carried in and buried by the side of Ames. God rest his dear and gallant soul."<ref name="Duffy" />{{rp|p.193}} A [[sniper]]'s bullet likely killed him instantly. According to military records, Kilmer died on the battlefield near Muercy Farm, beside the Ourcq River near the village of [[Seringes-et-Nesles]], in France, on July 30, 1918, at the age of 31.<ref>" Joyce Kilmer Slain on the West Front; Former Member of Times Staff Had Won Sergeantcy In The 165th of Infantry. His Writings Well Known Author Was Rutgers And Columbia Graduate—Several Veterans Of The 69th Killed. His Lusitania Poem. Fought At The Marne. Veteran Of 69th Killed. Lieut. Harwood 'Doing Fine.' Parents Receive Letter Written After Date Of Reported Death." ''The New York Times'' August 18, 1918.</ref> For his valor, Kilmer was posthumously awarded the [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]] (War Cross) by the [[France|French Republic]].<ref>"Joyce Kilmer cited for French War Cross" ''The New York Times'' January 2, 1919.</ref>

Kilmer was buried in the [[Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial]], near Fere-en-Tardenois, [[Aisne]], [[Picardy]], France just across the road and stream from the farm where he was killed.<ref>[https://www.abmc.gov/multimedia/videos/oise-aisne-american-cemetery American Battle Monuments Commission]</ref> A [[cenotaph]] erected to his memory is located on the Kilmer family plot in [[Elmwood Cemetery (North Brunswick, New Jersey)|Elmwood Cemetery]], in [[North Brunswick, New Jersey]].<ref>[https://www.mycentraljersey.com/picture-gallery/life/2018/05/25/photos-parker-veterans-celebrate-an-early-memorial-day/35360327/ My Central Jersey]</ref> A Memorial Mass was celebrated at [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York|St. Patrick's Cathedral]] in [[New York City]] on October 14, 1918.<ref>"Mass for Joyce Kilmer. Memorial Service at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York Tomorrow Morning." ''The New York Times''. October 13, 1918.</ref>

<gallery heights="220px" widths="150px" mode="nolines">
File:Kilmer family monument, Elmwood Cemetery, NJ.jpg|Cenotaph at [[Elmwood Cemetery (North Brunswick, New Jersey)|Elmwood Cemetery]]
Image:Kilmer plaque.JPG|Plaque honoring Kilmer in [[Central Park]], New York City
Image:Joyce kilmer plaque.jpg|Plaque honoring Kilmer in [[Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest]]
File:KilmerMemorialPlaque.JPG|Plaque erected at the [[Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest]] in [[Graham County, North Carolina]]
</gallery>