Henry Jackson Van Dyke

 

Henry Jackson Van Dyke [1852-1933  •  Ranked #64 in the top 500 poets] was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, to Henrietta Ashmead and Henry Jackson Van Dyke, a respected Presbyterian clergyman. 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." In 1868 Van Dyke met Robert E. Lee, who gave him a ride on his horse, Traveller.

 

Time Is

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 not. 

[Read at Princess Diana's Funeral]

Later in life he said the three men who had most influenced him were his father, General Lee, and ‘Alfred Tennyson’, and from that comment can be seen the keynotes of his life: the dedication to honour and beauty and the willingness to fight for a cause. He studied at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and received an M.A. from Princeton University in 1876. He was an ideal student, active in a myriad of extracurricular activities as well as his classes. Yet, not wishing to be considered a bookworm, Van Dyke often disguised how much he studied and was willing to involve himself in some youthful pranks. He included in his college scrapbook a poster offering a fifty-dollar "reward for the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons who took the gate and damaged the fences on the Seminary and Library grounds." In the margin is the note: "They didn't catch us. H.v.D."  All Poetry