Walter de la Mare, born on April 25, 1873 in
London, is considered one of modern literature’s
chief exemplars of the romantic imagination. His
complete works form a sustained treatment of
romantic themes: dreams, death, rare states of
mind and emotion, fantasy worlds of childhood,
and the pursuit of the transcendent.
Excerpt from The Poetry Foundation
As a poet de la Mare is often compared with Thomas Hardy and William Blake for their respective themes of mortality and visionary illumination. His greatest concern was the creation of a dreamlike tone implying a tangible but nonspecific transcendent reality.
This characteristic of the poems has drawn many admirers, though also eliciting criticism that the poet indulged in an undefined sense of mystery without systematic acceptance of any specific doctrine.
He died on June 22, 1956.