Author: Ninette M. Lowater

Born in Bolton, Connecticut, Ninette Maine Lowater (1844–1932) was an American poet. She moved to Minnesota from Connecticut and later married Harrison Lowater. They then moved to Rock Elm, Wisconsin, a rural town in the northwestern part of the state, where her husband was the principal of the Rock Elm Institute. Her published works, mainly poetry, appeared in magazines and periodicals such as Leslie’s Monthly, the Youth’s Companion, the New York Sun, the New York Herald, the Smart Set, the Churchman, People’s Magazine, and Midland Monthly, among others. Her collection of poetry, Songs From the Wayside, was published in 1906.

Roy’s Decoration Day

Ninette M. Lowater

In this selection, first published by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction as a resource for its public schools in 1904, the poetess Ninette Maine Lowater (1844–1932) delicately addresses how the living care for and “keep alive” their dead.