James Whitcomb Riley

"TO WILLIAM MORRIS PIERSON     [1868-1870]     Of the wealth of facts and fancies         That our memories may recall,     The old school-da"

"When frost's all on our winder, an' the snow's      All out-o'-doors, our "Old-Kriss"-milkman goes      A-drivin' round, ist purt'-nigh froze t"

"It is my dream to have you here with me,     Out of the heated city's dust and din -     Here where the colts have room to gambol in,     And k"

"There's a space for good to bloom in      Every heart of man or woman, -     And however wild or human,      Or however brimmed with gall,"

"O the drum!          There is some              Intonation in thy grum      Monotony of utterance that strikes the spirit dumb,      As we he"

"Tom Van Arden, my old friend,             Our warm fellowship is one         Far too old to comprehend             Where its bond was first"

"I saw a man - and envied him beside -         Because of this world's goods he had great store;     But even as I envied him, he died,"

"I am looking for Love. Has he passed this way,     With eyes as blue as the skies of May,     And a face as fair as the summer dawn? -     You"

"There was a curious quiet for a space     Directly following: and in the face     Of one rapt listener pulsed the flush and glow     Of the hea"

"Jap Miller down at Martinsville's the blamedest feller yit!         When he starts in a-talkin' other folks is apt to quit! -         'Pear"

""The hoss he is a splendud beast;      He is man's friend, as heaven desined,     And, search the world from west to east,      No honester you"

"I want to be a Soldier! -          A Soldier! -              A Soldier! -      I want to be a Soldier, with a sabre in my hand      Or a l"

"A Child-World, yet a wondrous world no less,     To those who knew its boundless happiness.     A simple old frame house - eight rooms in all -"

"Old John's jes' made o' the commonest stuff -             Old John Henry -      He's tough, I reckon, - but none too tough -      Too tough th"

"It's Chairley Burke's in town, b'ys!    He's down til "Jamesy's Place,"      Wid a bran'-new shave upon 'um, an' the fhwhuskers aff his face;"

"Fold the little waxen hands     Lightly.    Let your warmest tears     Speak regrets, but never fears, -         Heaven understands!     Let t"

"Not very many years ago the writer was for some months stationed at     South Bend, a thriving little city of northern Indiana, its main     pop"

"When she comes home again! A thousand ways      I fashion, to myself, the tenderness      Of my glad welcome: I shall tremble - yes;     And to"

"I hail thee, Nessmuk, for the lofty tone                 Yet simple grace that marks thy poetry!                 True forester thou art, and"

"When Old Jack died, we stayed from school (they said,      At home, we needn't go that day), and none      Of us ate any breakfast - only one,"

"When Lide married him - w'y, she had to jes dee-fy The whole poppilation! - But she never bat' an eye! Her parents begged, and threatened - she must g"

"They's a kind o' feel in the air, to me.         When the Chris'mas-times sets in.     That's about as much of a mystery      As ever I've run"

"Noey Bixler ketched him, and fetched him in to me      When he's ist a little teenty-weenty baby-coon     'Bout as big as little pups, an' tied"

""Want to be whur mother is! Want to be whur mother is!"      Jeemses Rivers! won't some one ever shet that howl o' his?          That-air yelli"

"How tired I am! I sink down all alone      Here by the wayside of the Present. Lo,     Even as a child I hide my face and moan -      A little"

"Her heart knew naught of sorrow,         Nor the vaguest taint of sin -     'Twas an ever-blooming blossom         Of the purity within:     A"

"The merriment that followed was subdued -     As though the story-teller's attitude     Were dual, in a sense, appealing quite     As much to"

"Wasn't it a good time,          Long Time Ago -      When we all were little tads          And first played "Show"! -      When every newer"

"I.     Time of crisp and tawny leaves,     And of tarnished harvest sheaves,     And of dusty grasses - weeds -     Thistles, with their tuft"

"Pa he bringed me here to stay         'Til my Ma she's well. - An' nen      He's go' hitch up, Chris'mus-day,         An' come take me back ag"

"The Town Karnteel! It's who'll reveal     Its praises jushtifiable?     For who can sing av anything     So lovely and reliable?     Whin Summ"

"O it's good to ketch a relative 'at's richer and don't run      When you holler out to hold up, and'll joke and have his fun;      It's good to"

"The landscape, like the awed face of a child,     Grew curiously blurred; a hush of death     Fell on the fields, and in the darkened wild"

"A king - estranged from his loving Queen         By a foolish royal whim -     Tired and sick of the dull routine         Of matters surroundin"

"Ho! green fields and running brooks!         Knotted strings and fishing-hooks         Of the truant, stealing down         Weedy backways"

"I caught, for a second, across the crowd -     Just for a second, and barely that -     A face, pox-pitted and evil-browed,     Hid in the shad"

"She sang a song of May for me,      Wherein once more I heard     The mirth of my glad infancy -      The orchard's earliest bird -     The jo"

"Noon-time an' June-time, down around the river!     Have to furse with 'Lizey Ann - but lawzy! I fergive her!     Drives me off the place, an' s"

"Of the North I wove a dream,         All bespangled with the gleam             Of the glancing wings of swallows         Dipping ripples in"

"Who bides his time, and day by day     Faces defeat full patiently,     And lifts a mirthful roundelay,     However poor his fortunes be,"

""Lord, I believe: help Thou mine unbelief."     We must believe -     Being from birth endowed with love and trust -     Born unto loving; - and"

"The dawn of the day was dreary,      And the lowering clouds o'erhead     Wept in a silent sorrow      Where the sweet sunshine lay dead;"

"Kindly and warm and tender,      He nestled each childish palm      So close in his own that his touch was a prayer      And his speech a bles"

"Now, Tudens, you sit on this knee - and 'scuse      It having no side-saddle on; - and, Jeems,      You sit on this - and don't you wobble so"

"Here's his ragged "roundabout";     Turn the pockets inside out:     See; his pen-knife, lost to use,     Rusted shut with apple-juice;     He"

"I'm twins, I guess, 'cause my Ma say         I'm two little girls. An' one o' me         Is Good little girl; an' th'other 'n' she         Is"

"You think it is a sorry thing         That I am blind.    Your pitying         Is welcome to me; yet indeed,         I think I have but lit"

"[Voice from behind high board-fence.]           "Where's the crowd that dares to go      Where I dare to lead? - you know!"           "Well,"

"The midnight is not more bewildering     To her drowsed eyes, than to her ears, the sound     Of dim, sweet singing voices, interwound     With"

"It was just a very      Merry fairy dream! -     All the woods were airy      With the gloom and gleam;     Crickets in the clover      Clatt"

"[Restored Romaunt.]     It was a Jolly Miller lived on the River Dee;     He looked upon his piller, and there he found a flea:      "O Mr. Fl"

"[A.T.]      Wind of the Sea, come fill my sail -      Lend me the breath of a freshening gale         And bear my port-worn ship away!"

"Me an' Bert an' Minnie-Belle      Knows a joke, an' we won't tell!      No, we don't - 'cause we don't know      Why we got to laughin' so;"

""I'm home again, my dear old Room,      I'm home again, and happy, too,     As, peering through the brightening gloom,      I find myself alone"

"You better not fool with a Bumblebee! -     Ef you don't think they can sting - you'll see!     They're lazy to look at, an' kindo' go     Buzz"

"(Grandfather, musing.)     In childish days! O memory,      You bring such curious things to me! -     Laughs to the lip - tears to the eye,"

"I dreamed I was a spider;     A big, fat, hungry spider;     A lusty, rusty spider         With a dozen palsied limbs;     With a dozen limbs"

"Ho! the old Snow-Man         That Noey Bixler made!     He looked as fierce and sassy         As a soldier on parade! -     'Cause Noey, when"

"Time is so long when a man is dead!     Some one sews; and the room is made     Very clean; and the light is shed     Soft through the window-s"

"Little brook! Little brook!             You have such a happy look -     Such a very merry manner, as you swerve and              curve"