1883–1918

Introduction

Introduction

Born: Au­gust 19, 1883, New Bri­tain, Con­nec­ti­cut.

Died: No­vem­ber 1, 1918, La­hore, In­dia (now Pa­ki­stan). Per­ished in the in­flu­en­za pan­de­mic.

portrait

Biography

Howard was the son of Hen­ry Stan­ley Wal­ter and Mar­tha A. Ar­nold, and hus­band of Mar­guer­ite B. Dar­ling­ton (mar­ried 1910).

In 1905, he gra­du­at­ed with hon­ors from Prince­ton Uni­ver­si­ty, New Jer­sey. He went on to stu­dy at Hart­ford Theo­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry, Con­nec­ti­cut; in Ed­in­burgh and Glas­gow, Scot­land; and in Gött­ing­en, Ger­ma­ny.

At age 23, he spent a year teach­ing Eng­lish at Wa­se­da Uni­ver­si­ty in To­kyo, Ja­pan.

After or­di­na­tion, he be­came as­sist­ant pas­tor at the Asy­lum Hill Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church in Hart­ford, Con­nec­ti­cut.

Walter lat­er be­came a mis­sion­ary with the Young Men’s Christ­ian As­so­cia­tion (YMCA). As of about 1920, he was Li­ter­ary Sec­re­ta­ry for the Na­tion­al Coun­cil of the YMCA of In­dia and Cey­lon (now Sri Lan­ka).

Doctors had ad­vised against his go­ing, due to his weak heart, but he in­sist­ed he must be true. He died while work­ing at the For­man Christ­ian Col­lege in La­hore.

Works

Poem

Lullaby

Baby sleep, the night is nearing,
Softest twilight tints, appearing.
Dim the garish sunset splendor,
Bathe the earth in shadows slender.
Blinking star-eyes none can number
Watch above thy peaceful slumber,
Guard thy breast from every danger;
Stars that watched above a manger.
Long and long ago.

Baby sleep, the shades are falling,
Voices of the night are calling.
From the depths of dreamy distance.
Echoes of a far existence.
Now the moon, all wan and hoary,
Floods the earth with argent glory,
Down his silver path of pardon
Moon that shone upon a garden,
Long and long ago.

Baby sleep, till evanescent
Dawn receives the silver crescent
In its bosom,tawny, glistening.
When the birds, alert and listening,
Carol forth the fragrant morning.
Mist-hung earth and sky adorning,
Gilded with the sun’s reflection
Morn that viewed a resurrection.
Long and long ago.

Howard Arnold Walter
My Creed, and Oth­er Po­ems, 1912

Sources

Lyrics