de la Mare, Walter John (1873-1956)

English poet and writer. His works include verse for children, such as Peacock Pie (1913), and the novels The Three Royal Monkeys (1910) (for children) and The Memoirs of a Midget (1921) (for adults). He excelled at creating a sense of eeriness and supernatural mystery. The Listeners (1912) established his reputation as a writer of delicately imaginative verse in the twin domains of childhood and dreamland.

De la Mare was born in Charlton, Kent. His first book, Songs of Childhood (1902), appeared under the pseudonym Walter Ramal. The novel Henry Brocken (1904) was followed by The Three Mulla Mulgars (1910) and The Return (1910). Rhymes and Verses (1944) gathered together the poems written for children; Collected Poems (1942) contained the rest of his verse. Collected Stories for Children appeared in 1944 and Collected Tales in 1950, and in 1953 he published the volume of lyrics O Lovely England.