Walter de la Mare was born in Kent in 1873 and educated at St Paul’s Cathedral Choir School. At the age of sixteen he began work in the Anglo-American oil company, where he remained for twenty years. In 1899 he married Elfie Ingpen, a woman some years his senior.

Writing under the pseudonym Walter Ramal he published Songs of Childhood (1902), a volume that reveals his particular talent as a children’s writer. This he followed with Peacock Pie (1913) which remains to this day a well-known collection for children. Songs of Childhood and Peacock Pie emphasise the darker side of childhood, with recurrent strains of sadness, loss and cruelty.

In his early poetry for adults, The Listeners (1

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First published 20 February 2002

Citation: Bridges, James. "Walter De La Mare". The Literary Encyclopedia. 20 February 2002.
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