Which American author wrote the poem ’I Am Standing Upon the Seashore’?

The poem titled ‘I Am Standing Upon the Seashore’, sometimes attributed to Victor Hugo, is a moving funeral verse about death and the afterlife by the American poet Henry Van Dyke Jr. (1852-1933). The beginning verse starts, “I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side...”, while the ending verse reads, ”Death comes in its own time, in its own way/Death is as unique as the individual experiencing it.”

Van Dyke was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was a respected Presbyterian clergyman, author and educator. His father was also a minister. His brother’s name was Paul. Apparently, Henry wasn’t a model child as his father said of his two sons, “Paul was born good, but Henry was saved by grave”.

He was a professor of English literature at his alma mater, Princeton University. By appointment of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, a friend and classmate, he became Minster to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913.

When he resigned from this position and returned to the U.S. he was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Other events in his life include his friendship with Helen Keller, the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree; officiating at the funeral of Mark Twain, the American writer and humorist.

His literary contributions include Christmas stories and his poetry that included religious themes. He also wrote the lyrics to the popular hymn, “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” (1907) sung to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”