Kenneth Rand

Kenneth Rand (1891–1918) was an American poet. An English literature graduate of Yale University, he served as chairman of the board of the Yale Literary Magazine, served as literary editor of the Yale Courant, contributed to campus humor magazine The Yale Record, was a member of the Elizabethan Club and was the class poet.

Early life Rand was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 8, 1891, the son of Alonzo Turner Rand, president of the Minneapolis Gas Company, and Louise Casey Rand. Much of his early life was spent in travel, especially in Europe. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, for three years, where he was a member of the Mandolin Club and wrote for a student publication, The Mirror. He was not overly popular there, but was thought to be unusually introspective.

World War I When war broke out Rand greatly desired to enter the military. He volunteered for the Navy

In his poem "Straw-Death", Rand speaks eloquently of his regret at the prospect of dying in a sickbed instead of as a man of action. His final poem, "Limited Service Only", written a few days before his death, was found in his uniform and at the time was considered one of the genuine poetic expressions of fervor and patriotism written during the Great War. The War Department published the poem on December 2, 1918, along with a preface praising the "limited service men" who sought active service but (for physical limitations or other reasons) were denied the privilege of joining the combatant forces of the United States.

Kenneth Rand's body was sent home to Minneapolis, where he was buried in uniform. The poet Harold Crawford Stearns, a classmate in Rand's graduating class at Phillips Academy, memorialized Rand in a poem entitled Vale, Kenneth Rand. It concluded,

Works The Dirge of the Sea-Children and Other Poems (Boston, Sherman, French & Company, 1913) The Rainbow Chaser and Other Poems (Boston, Sherman, French & Company, 1914) The Dreamer and Other Poems (Boston, Sherman, French & Company, 1915)

Selected poems "Atheism" "The Crows" "Eros Ephemeros" "The Flower-Peddler" "The Lonely Road" "Lover's Dawn" "The Old Lovers" "The Prodigal" "The Rainbow Chaser" "Sonnet" "Spring in the Semi-Tropics" "Straw-Death" "The Suicide" "To All Ye Motherless" "To the Dream Maiden" "The True Magic"