Skip to content
Linespedia

Chairley Burke

By James Whitcomb Riley

Topics: classic

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;      He's quit the Section-Gang last night, and yez can chalk it down      There's goin' to be the divil's toime, sence Chairley Burke's in town.      It's treatin' iv'ry b'y he is, an' poundin' on the bar      Till iv'ry man he's drinkin' wid must shmoke a foine cigar;      An' Missus Murphy's little Kate, that's coomin' there for beer,      Can't pay wan cint the bucketful, the whilst that Chairley's here!      He's joompin' oor the tops o' sthools, the both forninst an' back!      He'll lave yez pick the blessed flure, an' walk the straightest crack!      He's liftin' barrels wid his teeth, and singin "Garry Owen,"      Till all the house be strikin' hands, sence Chairley Burke's in town.      The Road-Yaird hands coomes dhroppin' in, an' niver goin' back;      An' there's two freights upon the switch--the wan on aither track--      An' Mr. Gearry, from The Shops, he's mad enough to swear,      An' durstn't spake a word but grin, the whilst that Chairley's there!      Och! Chairley! Chairley! Chairley Burke! ye divil, wid yer ways      O' dhrivin' all the throubles aff, these dhark an' ghloomy days!      Ohone! that it's meself, wid all the graifs I have to dhrown,      Must lave me pick to resht a bit, sence Chairley Burke's in town.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"It's Chairley Burke's in town, b'ys!    He's down til "Jamesy's Place,"..."

"Chairley Burke" 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...

Attribution & Rights

Author:James Whitcomb Riley

"It's Chairley Burke's in town, b'ys!    He's down ..." by James Whitcomb Riley

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"Writ in between the lines of his life-deed         We trace the sacred service of a heart         Answering the Divine command, in every par"

"Crowd about me, little children -         Come and cluster 'round my knee     While I tell a little story         That happened once with me."

"O the night was dark and the night was late,         And the robbers came to rob him;      And they picked the locks of his palace-gate,"

"O her beautiful eyes! they are as blue as the dew         On the violet's bloom when the morning is new,         And the light of their love"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

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.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"Writ in between the lines of his life-deed        ..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.