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A Wraith Of Summertime.

By James Whitcomb Riley

Topics: classic

In its color, shade and shine,         'T was a summer warm as wine,         With an effervescent flavoring of flowered bough and vine,         And a fragrance and a taste         Of ripe roses gone to waste,         And a dreamy sense of sun- and moon- and star-light interlaced.         'Twas a summer such as broods         O'er enchanted solitudes,         Where the hand of Fancy leads us through voluptuary moods,         And with lavish love out-pours         All the wealth of out-of-doors,         And woos our feet o'er velvet paths and honeysuckle floors.         'Twas a summertime long dead, -         And its roses, white and red,         And its reeds and water-lilies down along the river-bed, -         O they all are ghostly things -         For the ripple never sings,         And the rocking lily never even rustles as it rings!

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"In its color, shade and shine,..."

"A Wraith Of Summertime." is a quintessential example of James Whitcomb Riley's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:James Whitcomb Riley

"In its color, shade and shine,..." by James Whitcomb Riley

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James Whitcomb Riley

About James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916) was an American poet known as the "Hoosier Poet." His dialect poems—including "Little Orphant Annie" and "When the Frost Is on the Punkin"—celebrate rural Indiana life and childhood nostalgia.

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