James Whitcomb Riley

""The voice of One hath spoken,         And the bended reed is bruised -     The golden bowl is broken,         And the silver cord is loosed.""

"All hope of rest withdrawn me? -             What dread command hath put         This awful curse upon me -             The curse of the"

"A lover said, "O Maiden, love me well,     For I must go away:     And should ANOTHER ever come to tell     Of love - What WILL you say?""

""When it's got to be," - like! always say, As I notice the years whiz past, And know each day is a yesterday, When we size it up, at last, - Same as I"

"O Printerman of sallow face,      And look of absent guile,      Is it the 'copy' on your 'case'      That causes you to smile?      Or is it"

"I thought the deacon liked me, yit         I warn't adzackly shore of it -         Fer, mind ye, time and time agin,         When jiners '"

"It was a man of many parts,         Who in his coffer mind     Had stored the Classics and the Arts         And Sciences combined;     The pur"

"Such was the Child-World of the long-ago -     The little world these children used to know: -     Johnty, the oldest, and the best, perhaps,"

"Nosing around in an old box - packed away, and lost to memory for years - an hour ago I found a musty package of gilt paper, or rather, a roll it"

"They's nothin' in the name to strike      A feller more'n common like!      'Taint liable to git no praise      Ner nothin' like it nowadays;"

"I got to thinkin' of her - both her parents dead and gone -     And all her sisters married off, and none but her and John     A-livin' all alon"

"With a sweeter voice than birds         Dare to twitter in their sleep,     Pipe for me a tune of words,         Till my dancing fancies leap"

"Far in the night, and yet no rest for him! The pillow next his own      The wife's sweet face in slumber pressed - yet he awake - alone! alone!"

"I cannot say, and I will not say     That he is dead. He is just away!     With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand     He has wandered int"

"I bear dis cross dis many a mile.             O de cross-bearin' chile -                 De cross-bearin' chile!         I bear dis cross"

"A word of Godspeed and good cheer      To all on earth, or far or near,      Or friend or foe, or thine or mine -      In echo of the voice di"

"One time, when we'z at Aunty's house -      'Way in the country! - where     They's ist but woods - an' pigs, an' cows -      An' all's out-doo"

"The stars are falling, and the sky     Is like a field of faded flowers;     The winds on weary wings go by;     The moon hides, and the tempes"

""They ain't much 'tale' about it!" Noey said. -     "K'tawby grapes wuz gittin' good-n-red     I rickollect; and Tubb Kingry and me     'Ud ki"

"A monument for the Soldiers!             And what will ye build it of?         Can ye build it of marble, or brass, or bronze,"

"A song of Long Ago:         Sing it lightly - sing it low -         Sing it softly - like the lisping of the lips we used to know"

"When Old Folks they wuz young like us      An' little as you an' me, -      Them wuz the best times ever wuz      Er ever goin' to be!"

"MAY 30, 1878,     Dying for victory, cheer on cheer     Thundered on his eager ear.                  - CHARLES L. HOLSTEIN.     I     Deep"

"I crave, dear Lord,     No boundless hoard     Of gold and gear,     Nor jewels fine,     Nor lands, nor kine,     Nor treasure-heaps of anyt"

"Grand Haven is in Michigan, and in possession, too,         Of as many rare attractions as our party ever knew: -         The fine hotel, t"

"NEW CASTLE, JULY 4, 1878     For a hundred years the pulse of time         Has throbbed for Liberty;     For a hundred years the grand old cli"

"Leonainie - Angels named her;      And they took the light     Of the laughing stars and framed her      In a smile of white;         And they"

"I would not trace the hackneyed phrase     Of shallow words and empty praise,     And prate of "peace" till one might think     My foolish pen"

"Dexery-tethery! down in the dike,         Under the ooze and the slime,     Nestles the wraith of a reticent Gryke,         Blubbering bubbles"

"A troth, and a grief, and a blessing,     Disguised them and came this way,     And one was a promise, and one was a doubt,     And one was a r"

"Like a drift of faded blossoms     Caught in a slanting rain,     His fingers glimpsed down the strings of his harp     In a tremulous refrain:"

"The summer winds is sniffin' round the bloomin' locus' trees;     And the clover in the pastur is a big day fer the bees,     And they been a-sw"

"You've a manner all so mellow,         My old friend,      That it cheers and warms a fellow,         My old friend,      Just to meet and gr"

"Wait for the morning! Ah! We wait indeed     For daylight, we who toss about through stress     Of vacant-armed desires and emptiness     Of al"

"As a harvester, at dusk,         Faring down some woody trail         Leading homeward through the musk         Of may-apple and pawpaw,"

"The old farm-home is Mother's yet and mine,     And filled it is with plenty and to spare,     But we are lonely here in life's decline,     Th"

"The harp of the minstrel has never a tone         As sad as the song in his bosom to-night,     For the magical touch of his fingers alone"

"It hain't no use to grumble and complane;      It's jest as cheap and easy to rejoice. -     When God sorts out the weather and sends rain,"

"The little old poem that nobody reads         Blooms in a crowded space,      Like a ground-vine blossom, so low in the weeds         That nob"

"Old wortermelon time is a-comin' round again,         And they ain't no man a-livin' any tickleder'n me,     Fer the way I hanker after worterme"

"If I knew what poets know,     Would I write a rhyme     Of the buds that never blow     In the summer-time?     Would I sing of golden seeds"

"I      Winter without         And warmth within;      The winds may shout         And the storm begin;      The snows may pack         At t"

"Leedle Dutch baby haff come ter town!     Jabber und jump till der day gone down -     Jabber und sphlutter und sphlit hees jaws -     Vot a Du"

"This Pan is but an idle god, I guess,     Since all the fair midsummer of my dreams     He loiters listlessly by woody streams,     Soaking the"

"Parunts knows lots more than us,         But they don't know all things, -      'Cause we ketch 'em, lots o' times,         Even on little sm"

"When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,     And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,     And the"

"A Voice From the Interior of Old Hoop-Pole Township     Friend of my earliest youth,      Can't you arrange to come down     And visit a fellow o"

"Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,     An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,     An' shoo the chickens off"

"He leant against a lamp-post, lost         In some mysterious reverie:         His head was bowed; his arms were crossed;         He yawned"

"The ripest peach is highest on the tree -     And so her love, beyond the reach of me,     Is dearest in my sight. Sweet breezes bow     Her he"

"A TRAGI-COMEDY, IN ONE ACT.         PERSONS REPRESENTED.         BILLY MILLER            )         The Rivals         JOHNNY WILLIAMS"

"Always suddenly they are gone -         The friends we trusted and held secure -      Suddenly we are gazing on,         Not a smiling face, b"

""Best time to kill a hog's when he's fat." - Old Saw.     Mostly folks is law-abidin'     Down on Wriggle Crick,     Seein' they's no Squire r"

"I.         Dawn, noon and dewfall!    Bluebird and robin         Up and at it airly, and the orchard-blossoms bobbin'!         Peekin' fro"

"The ticking - ticking - ticking of the clock!     That vexed me so last night! "For though Time keeps     Such drowsy watch," I moaned, "he neve"

"Get gone, thou most uncomfortable ghost!             Thou really dost annoy me with thy thin             Impalpable transparency of grin;"

"1     Tell you what I like the best -     'Long about knee-deep in June,     'Bout the time strawberries melts     On the vine, some afternoo"

"The Beautiful City! Forever     Its rapturous praises resound;     We fain would behold it - but never     A glimpse of its dory is found:"

"A passel o' the boys last night -         An' me amongst 'em - kindo got      To talkin' Temper'nce left an' right,         An' workin' up "bl"

"The same old story told again -         The maiden droops her head,     The ripening glow of her crimson cheek         Is answering in her stea"