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Uncle Sidney To Marcellus

By James Whitcomb Riley

Topics: classic

Marcellus, won't you tell us -         Truly tell us, if you can, -      What will you be, Marcellus,         When you get to be a man?      You turn, with never answer         But to the band that plays. -      O rapt and eerie dancer,         What of your future days?      Far in the years before us         We dreamers see your fame,      While song and praise in chorus         Make music of your name.      And though our dreams foretell us         As only visions can,      You must prove it, O Marcellus,         When you get to be a man!

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"Marcellus, won't you tell us -..."

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Author:James Whitcomb Riley

"Marcellus, won't you tell us -..." 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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