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Evensong

By James Whitcomb Riley

Topics: classic

Lay away the story, -         Though the theme is sweet,      There's a lack of something yet,         Leaves it incomplete: -      There's a nameless yearning -         Strangely undefined -      For a story sweeter still         Than the written kind.      Therefore read no longer -         I've no heart to hear      But just something you make up,         O my mother dear. -      With your arms around me,         Hold me, folded-eyed, -      Only let your voice go on -         I'll be satisfied.

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"Lay away the story, - ..."

"Evensong" 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

"Lay away the story, - ..." by James Whitcomb Riley

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"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.

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