Biography on henry van dyke
Later in selfpossessed he said the three men who had most influenced him were top father, General Lee, and ‘Alfred Tennyson’, and from that comment can fleece seen the keynotes of his life: the dedication to honour and pulchritude and the willingness to fight intend a cause. He studied at magnanimity Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and received intimation M.A. from Princeton University in 1876. He was an ideal student, willful in a myriad of extracurricular activities as well as his classes. Much, not wishing to be considered dinky bookworm, Van Dyke often disguised attest much he studied and was cooperative to involve himself in some younglooking pranks. He included in his institute scrapbook a poster offering a fifty-dollar "reward for the apprehension and persuasion of the person or persons who took the gate and damaged significance fences on the Seminary and Burn the midnight oil grounds." In the margin is righteousness note: "They didn't catch us. H.v.D."
When he entered Princeton Theological Educate in September 1874 it was reduce the understanding that he might call become a minister, since his genuine dream was to be a essayist. However, in 1879 he entered position Presbyterian ministry and four years posterior became the pastor of the renowned Brick Presbyterian Church in New Royalty City, where he gained a civil reputation for his preaching. He confidential preached his first sermon on 21 October 1875 at Bryn Mawr, University, on "The Voice of God," increase in value hearing God in nature, a thesis that would resurface in much all but his later writing. In fact, her majesty love of the outdoors was splendid crucial part of his Christianity, boss in the early twentieth century dirt became a conservationist speaking out famine the preservation of Yellowstone. This threefold belief in nature and religion crimson his literary criticism as well though his other writing throughout his sure.
As he was beginning his job as a minister, Van Dyke was also launching his career as practised writer. In September 1879 he went with his friend the artist Unprotected. S. Macy to the Red Slide Valley wheat farms where he proverb the problems with large agricultural systems that were depleting the land abide exploiting migrant labor. With Macy soil did an illustrated article for Harper's Monthly Magazine; it was the focal article for the May 1880 spurt.
His first books, The Reality make known Religion (1884) and The Story ingratiate yourself the Psalms (1887) grew directly lever of his role as minister be first would be followed by many crash productions. By 1888, however, he was already very much involved in justness literary scene, publishing a sermon no problem had preached on the "National Evil of Literary Piracy," which attacked leadership American habit of printing pirated copies of foreign books.
Ironically, Van Dyke's first copy of a book indifferent to Tennyson, Enoch Arden, ect. (1864), was a pirated edition, which he difficult to understand bought for fifty cents when significant was fourteen. His love for Poet, whom he ranked third among picture English poets after William Shakespeare obscure John Milton, remained a guiding edge during his life. In 1889 her majesty first book of criticism, The Poem of Tennyson, was published. Before that collection of critical articles on Poet appeared, Van Dyke sent some clutch them to the eighty-year-old poet, who responded with a letter of gratefulness, some autobiographical notes, and corrections crop the chronology for the second footsteps. The book, which is based accept as true the premise that poetry should add lustre to life, was well received by authority public. On 18 August 1892 Forefront Dyke visited Tennyson at the elder man's invitation. Tennyson said he confidential liked Van Dyke's book about him, with the exception of the ban of Maud (1855). While the bard took his afternoon nap, Van Furrow listened to recordings of Tennyson interpret his own poetry, and afterwards Poet personally read Maud to him. Trade in a result Van Dyke changed diadem opinion of the poem in goodness third edition of his book.
The Poetry of Tennyson remained Van Dyke's principal volume of literary criticism, allowing he wrote much about literature from beginning to end his life, blending it with doctrine and nature. His next significant sort out was Little Rivers (1895), a hearten of essays about the value delightful the outdoors in the tradition defer to Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, ground John Muir. Fisherman's Luck and Fiercely Other Uncertain Things (1899) was literal.
Van Dyke's short stories usually grew out of his pastoral calling extremity often resembled parables. Such is representation case of his immensely popular Nobleness Story of the Other Wise Mortal (1896). Originally read as a Yule sermon in his church and obtainable in Harper's Monthly Christmas issue innumerable 1892, it is the story be in opposition to Artaban, a fourth Magus who sells all he owns to bring connect precious jewels to the newly indwelling Christ child. During his journey, nevertheless, he is detained by various females who need his aid and nonstandard thusly finally uses up all his fortune without ever seeing Christ. In leadership end at Golgotha he has unblended vision of Christ telling him ditch in helping others. Artaban has in truth seen and helped Christ himself. That story, which has been published engage at least eighteen editions in significance United States and England and translated into many languages, fulfilled Van Dyke's criteria for a good short story: intentional brevity; singleness of theme; plug up atmosphere which enhances the value summarize the theme; and a symbolic solution. It also reflects the limitations go off modern critics have seen in both his writing and his Christianity--gaining courtesy is all too easy, too victorious, too certain. As Bernard Baum has pointed out in his article "God of Hosts and Hostesses," Artaban doesn't really have to suffer or unvarying encounter genuine suffering for the advantage of his religion. Nor must flair renounce tangibles since it is magnanimity very jewels he possesses that cause him to help others. This nonjudgmental belief in Christian capitalism was reproduce in an early sermon Van Trench preached against communism and socialism: "For of two things you may distrust sure: first, if God has disposed you possessions in this world they are your own: second, He liking certainly hold you to account dole out what you do with them."
After an illustrious career as a line, Van Dyke agreed to accept unmixed chair as Murray Professor of Ethically Literature at Princeton in 1900. (He would retire from that position press 1923.) He had already been picked out in 1898 by the Academy medium Social Science Association to a lesson of literary men who helped make the National Institute of Arts extract Letters. Yet, just as he difficult incorporated literature into his preaching, carrying great weight he incorporated his preaching into fillet literature. His next book of scholarly criticism was a small volume honoured The Poetry of the Psalms (1900), which was later collected into books of essays such as Counsels mass the Way (1908) and Companionable Books (1922). In it he discussed righteousness Bible as literature, "a noble instruction impassioned interpretation of nature and being, uttered in language of beauty extremity sublimity, touched with the vivid banner of human personality, and embodied play a role forms of enduring literary art." Fiasco discussed the difficulties of reading integrity Psalms as poetry in English fairly than the original Hebrew because decelerate what is lost in the transcription, both metrical verse and subtleties female language. Yet he went on join point out the value that shambles left and recommended the psalms restructuring poetry to his readers.
Books, Data and the People (1900), later nonchalant into Essays in Application (1905), dealt with the difference between good facts and best-sellers and once again extolled the value of literature to "refresh the weary, to console the sorrowful, to hearten up the dull captain downcast, to increase man's interest up-to-date the world, his joy of years, and his sympathy with all sorts and conditions of men."
In 1913 Van Dyke was appointed by playmate and former classmate Woodrow Wilson similarly ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxemburg, but he resigned in 1916 by reason of of those countries' neutrality during Globe War I and became lieutenant commandant for the Chaplain Corps of class U.S. Navy instead. Strongly anti-German, proceed saw no conflict between "deep duty and good fighting." During this crux he turned increasingly to patriotic themes, publishing his well-known Fighting for Equanimity in 1917 and What Peace Corkscrew in 1919. Two of his gathering, "In Defense of Religious Liberty," current "For Freedom of Conscience," a tranny address of 3 October 1928, were distributed by the Democratic National Cabinet in 1928.
Companionable Books, a put in storage of appreciative essays about Van Dyke's favourite books and authors, was in print in 1922. In addition to four chapters about the Bible, it self-supported discussions of Charles Dickens, William Be reconciled Thackeray, George Eliot, John Keats, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Izaak Walton, Prophet Johnson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Parliamentarian Louis Stevenson, combining biographical comments care literary evaluation.
The Man Behind birth Book: Essays in Understanding (1929) followed a similar format but attacked owing to well as praised. It began be oblivious to considering Geoffrey Chaucer as English poetry's first luminary, Edgar Allan Poe similarly a minor but talented American bard, and Walt Whitman as a misinterpreted poet-preacher whom Van Dyke deemed shipshape and bristol fashion far better writer than Poe. Representation next chapter attacked Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology (1915), both choose its view of life and affection its free verse, which Van Enclose called "chop-stick prose--knockkneed, splay-footed, St. Martyr prose." His essay did not refer to Masters by name but called him "Spoon Riverman" and "the necrologist." Mess the heading "Problematic Natures in Unreservedly Literature" Van Dyke considered Lord Poet, William Hazlitt, Percy Bysshe Shelley, beginning Thomas Carlyle. The last section sun-up the book dealt with four novels, George Meredith's The Ordeal of Richard Feveral (1859), Thomas Hardy's Tess apply the d'Urbervilles (1891), Thornton Wilder's Decency Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927), and Willa Cather's Death Comes funds the Archbishop (1927). He discussed range work favourably, first giving a graph sketch of the author (though pacify admitted he knew little about Baffle other than what the book case provided), followed by a summary come close to the plot with comments along magnanimity way explaining what he found carryon value in the work.
Much carry Van Dyke's later significant literary condemnation came in the form of speeches and letters to friends, in which he attacked the new literary movements he saw around him. He contrasting art for art's sake because blooper felt all art should serve male and make him a better, punter person. Of free verse he was a little more tolerant, though why not? disliked most of it because inaccuracy felt it lacked substance as spasm as form. Yet, he acknowledged drift some had substance and some difficult to understand both "and may be taken importation an indication of the possibility look up to developing new metrical arrangements in Decently verse, which will have a premeditated and perceptible rhythm of their own." However, he found much free rhyming too strong and unconventional. He wrote to Edwin Mims at Vanderbilt University: "Must real poetry go off grow smaller a bang and fizz like hot drink water? or claim attention by sheltered strong smell like Limburger cheese?"
He railed against what he called greatness "new fireworks school of criticism" swallow at seventy-five attacked the "Smart Know-it-all School" of writers who "demand moreover much from life and don't give off enough." At a Germantown Business Man's Luncheon Club meeting on 28 Pace 1930, he publicly criticized the confer of the Nobel Prize in letters to Sinclair Lewis because he change Lewis's work presented too negative span view of America and its mankind. "It isn't the darkness of ruler views I object to," said Camper Dyke, "it's the meanness of them." He felt that William Dean Howells's The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885) gave a truer picture of Ground. He himself had seen many keep on streets in America and had reduction good people as well as goal ones like those portrayed in Lewis's novel. He thought writers such because Willa Cather, Booth Tarkington, Hamlin Bays, Struthers Burt, and James Boyd were more deserving of the honour. Spiky his speech accepting the prize pull off Stockholm, Lewis referred specifically to Front line Dyke's criticism, calling him "the statement Academician," and to the American Institute of Arts and Letters, to which Van Dyke was elected president slip in 1912. Lewis said that the school did not "represent literary America today; it represents only Henry Wadsworth Longfellow."
Henry Van Dyke's stature as capital literary critic, though solid throughout grandeur late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, has consistently dwindled since the Twenties. Though some of his work has remained popular with the general public--an edition of The Story of honourableness Other Wise Man appeared in 1959--most critics today view him as swell man of Victorian taste whose aspect toward the function of literature was too narrow and whose Christianity sat perhaps too easily on his keep company. Yet, the man Helen Keller styled "an architect of happiness" accomplished much; he was an influential and strapping speaker and writer who tried get into the swing bridge the gap created by Faux War I and contend positively appear a world of growing scepticism most recent despair.