de La Mare, Walter John

(1873-1956)

   Born at Charlton, Kent, the son of an official in the Bank of England, he was educated at St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers' School. On leaving school at fifteen he worked in the London office of the AngloAmerican Oil Company until 1908. He received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, St. Andrews, and Bristol, and was an honorary fellow of Keble College, Oxford. He was made a Companion of Honor in 1948 and received the Order of Merit in 1953. His ashes are buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, where there is a memorial plaque. Some of his publications: Songs of Childhood, 1902 (poetry collection under the pseudonym Walter Ramal). Henry Brocken, 1904 (novel). Poems, 1906. The Listeners, 1912 (poetry). Peacock Pie, 1913 (poems for children). Memoirs of a Midget, 1921 (children's novel). Crossings, 1922 (a fairy play). Collected Poems: The Burning Glass, 1945. Collected Rhymes and Verses, 1970. Some of his poems: "Alas, Alack!" "An Abandoned Church," "As Lucy Went A-Walking," "How Sleep the Brave," "The Mocking Fairy," "The Traveler," "Tom's Little Dog," "Winter Dusk."

   Sources: Collected Poems of Walter De La Mare. Henry Holt, 1941. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). Selected Poems of Walter De La Mare. Faber and Faber, 1973. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.