Dyke, Henry Van

Henry van Dyke

Henry Jackson van Dyke (10 November 1852 – 10 April 1933, aged 80) was an American author, educator, and clergyman.

[edit] Biography

Henry van Dyke was born on November 10, 1852 in Germantown, Pennsylvania in the United States. He graduated from Princeton University in 1873 and from Princeton Theological Seminary, 1877 and served as a professor of English literature at Princeton between 1899 and 1923. In 1908-09 Dr. van Dyke was an American lecturer at the University of Paris. By appointment of President Wilson he became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors.

Henry van Dyke offering prayer at the 1913 Easter Sunrise Services in Riverside, California atop Mount Rubidoux

He chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906. Among his popular writings are the two Christmas stories The Other Wise Man (1896) and The First Christmas Tree (1897). Various religious themes of his work are also expressed in his poetry, hymns and the essays collected in Little Rivers (1895) and Fisherman’s Luck (1899). He wrote the lyrics to the popular hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" (1907), sung to the tune of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. He compiled several short stories in The Blue Flower (1902) named after the key symbol of Romanticism introduced first by Novalis. He also contributed a chapter to the collaborative novel, The Whole Family (1908). 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 1969 debut album.

A biography of Van Dyke, titled Henry Van Dyke: A Biography, was written by his son Tertius van Dyke and published in 1935.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Henry van Dyke

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Henry van Dyke

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Henry van Dyke

• Works by Henry Van Dyke at Project Gutenberg
• Biography at the Cyber Hymnal
• Librivox Audio of The Story of the Other Wise Man, Internet Archive
• 'Little Rivers - Henry Van Dyke' Book Review on Stray Poetry
• Index entry for Henry Van Dyke at Poets' Corner
• Pennsylvania Center for the Book; Van Dyke, Henry
• Harper's New Monthly Magazine, "At The Sign of the Balsam Bough", Oct 1895.