When was henry van dyke born

Among his poems is "Katrina's Sundial", the inspiration for the song, "Time Is", by the group It's a Beautiful Day on their eponymous debut album. Furthermore, the lyrics of a song — entitled "Time", sung by Mark Masri — are mostly inspired by the following quote, written by Henry van Dyke: "Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love — time is eternity".

I put my heart to school In the world, where men grow wise, "Go out," I said, "and learn the rule; Come back when you win a prize. Let me but do my work from day to day, In field or forest, at the desk or loom, In roaring market-place or tranquil room; Let me but find it in my heart to say, Lord Jesus, Thou hast known A mother's love and tender care: And Thou wilt hear, while for my own Mother most dear I make this birthday prayer.

Outdoors narratives were also important themes for his stories. Little Rivers , ; Fisherman's Luck , ; and Outdoors in the Holy Land, , are some examples that show how nature influenced his writing ability. Despite his preoccupation with theological studies, church, and literary work, Henry van Dyke enjoyed reading books written by masters of literature. He ardently read books, not simply for the love of learning, but for the love of human companionship.

In college, van Dyke read Tennyson's poetry with keen understanding, finding in the poems an awe in everyday words and expressions because they involved a love of the ideal and a certainty in the dominant influence of uprightness. As a result, words in the books and the poems van Dyke read embodied living personalities instead of mere words of dead men. This allowed him to read books with empathy, understanding, and a sense of camaraderie.

Even though he devoted most of his life to the ministry, Henry van Dyke never ceased to be a teacher. He earnestly believed in study and scholarship. Just as he included literature into his preaching, van Dyke incorporated preaching into his literature. Another book of literary criticisms entitled The Poetry of Psalms discussed the Bible as "a noble and impassioned interpretation of nature and life, uttered in language of beauty and sublimity, touched with the vivid colors of human personality, and embodied in forms of enduring literary art.

Henry van Dyke remained a professor of English literature at Princeton for many years. In , van Dyke became a visiting lecturer at the University of Paris. He combined his skills as a scholar and educator to become a fitting ambassador from America.

In , President Woodrow Wilson, a friend and former classmate of van Dyke, appointed him as the ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Shortly after his appointment, World War I threw Europe into dismay. He had preached his first sermon on 21 October at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on "The Voice of God," about hearing God in nature, a theme that would resurface in much of his later writing.

In fact, his love of the outdoors was a crucial part of his Christianity, and in the early twentieth century he became a conservationist speaking out for the preservation of Yellowstone.

This dual belief in nature and religion colored his literary criticism as well as his other writing throughout his life. As he was beginning his career as a minister, Van Dyke was also launching his career as a writer. In September he went with his friend the artist W. Macy to the Red River Valley wheat farms where he saw the problems with large agricultural systems that were depleting the land and exploiting migrant labor. With Macy he did an illustrated article for Harper's Monthly Magazine; it was the lead article for the May issue.

His first books, The Reality of Religion and The Story of the Psalms grew directly out of his role as minister and would be followed by many similar productions. By , however, he was already very much involved in the literary scene, publishing a sermon he had preached on the "National Sin of Literary Piracy," which attacked the American habit of printing pirated copies of foreign books.

His love for Tennyson, whom he ranked third among the English poets after William Shakespeare and John Milton, remained a guiding factor during his life. In his first book of criticism, The Poetry of Tennyson, was published. Before this collection of critical articles on Tennyson appeared, Van Dyke sent some of them to the eighty-year-old poet, who responded with a letter of thanks, some autobiographical notes, and corrections in the chronology for the second edition.

The book, which is based on the premise that poetry should ennoble life, was well received by the public. On 18 August Van Dyke visited Tennyson at the older man's invitation. Tennyson said he had liked Van Dyke's book about him, with the exception of the criticism of Maud While the poet took his afternoon nap, Van Dyke listened to recordings of Tennyson reading his own poetry, and afterwards Tennyson personally read Maud to him. As a result Van Dyke changed his opinion of the poem in the third edition of his book.

The Poetry of Tennyson remained Van Dyke's principal volume of literary criticism, though he wrote much about literature throughout his life, blending it with religion and nature. His next significant work was Little Rivers , a collection of essays about the value of the outdoors in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, and John Muir. Van Dyke's short stories usually grew out of his pastoral calling and often resembled parables.

Beauty beyond the senses The son was influenced by his father's role as minister, though the boy was not necessarily a model child.

As his father said of his two sons, "Paul was born good, but Henry was saved by grace. Lee, who gave him a ride on his horse, Traveller.

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