Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Up And Down Old Brandywine

Up And Down Old Brandywine

Up and down old Brandywine,
In the days 'at's past and gone--
With a dad-burn hook-and line
And a saplin' pole--swawn!

294
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Waitin' Fer The Cat To Die

Waitin' Fer The Cat To Die

Lawzy! don't I rickollect
That-'air old swing in the lane!
Right and proper, I expect,
Old times _can't_ come back again…

281
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Tom Van Arden

Tom Van Arden

Tom Van Arden, my old friend,
Our warm fellowship is one
Far too old to comprehend
Where its bond was first begun:
Mirage-like …

276
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Uncle Mart's Poem

Uncle Mart's Poem

THE OLD SNOW-MAN

Ho! the old Snow-Man
That Noey Bixler made!
He looked as fierce and sassy
As a soldier on parade!-'<…

365
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

To The Judge

To The Judge

_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 fe…

328
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Told By

Told By

Coming, clean from the Maryland-end
Of this great National Road of ours,
Through your vast West; with the time to spend,
Stopping for days …

327
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

To Robert Burns

To Robert Burns

Sweet Singer that I loe the maist
O' ony, sin' wi' eager haste
I smacket bairn-lips ower the taste
O' hinnied sang,
I hail th…

317
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

To My Good Master

To My Good Master

In fancy, always, at thy desk, thrown wide,
Thy most betreasured books ranged neighborly--
The rarest rhymes of every land and sea

315
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

To a Boy Whistling

To a Boy Whistling

The smiling face of a happy boy
With its enchanted key
Is now unlocking in memory
My store of heartiest joy.


A…

255
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

To Annie

To Annie

When the lids of dusk are falling
O'er the dreamy eyes of day,
And the whippoorwills are calling,
And the lesson laid away,--
May Mem…

290
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Three Dead Friends

Three Dead Friends

Always suddenly they are gone--
The friends we trusted and held secure--
Suddenly we are gazing on,
Not a _smiling_ face, but the …

315
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Time

Time


1
The ticking-- ticking-- ticking of the clock--!
That vexed me so last night--! 'For though Time keeps
Such drowsy watch,' I moaned, 'h…

347
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Thomas The Pretender

Thomas The Pretender

Tommy's alluz playin' jokes,
An' actin' up, an' foolin' folks;
An' wunst one time he creep
In Pa's big chair, he did, one nigh…

278
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

There Was a Cherry-Tree

There Was a Cherry-Tree

There was a cherry-tree. Its bloomy snows
Cool even now the fevered sight that knows
No more its airy visions of pure joy --

283
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Wife-Blessed

The Wife-Blessed

I.
In youth he wrought, with eyes ablur,
Lorn-faced and long of hair--
In youth--in youth he painted her
A sister of the air-…

265
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Their Sweet Sorrow

Their Sweet Sorrow

They meet to say farewell: Their way
Of saying this is hard to say--.
He holds her hand an Instant, wholly
Distressed-- and she …

304
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Watches Of The Night

The Watches Of The Night

O the waiting in the watches of the night!
In the darkness, desolation, and contrition and affright;
The awful hush that holds u…

328
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Twins

The Twins

One 's the pictur' of his Pa,
And the _other_ of her Ma--
Jes the bossest pair o' babies 'at a mortal ever saw!
And we love 'em as the bee…

319
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Treasure Of The Wise Man

The Treasure Of The Wise Man

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, …

320
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Town Karnteel

The Town Karnteel

The Town Karnteel--! It's who'll reveal
Its praises jushtifiable?
For who can sing av anything
So lovely and reliable?
Whin…

296
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Stepmother

The Stepmother

First she come to our house,
Tommy run and hid;
And Emily and Bob and me
We cried jus' like we did
When Mother died,--and we a…

320
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Sphinx

The Sphinx

I know all about the Sphinx--
I know even what she thinks,
Staring with her stony eyes
Up forever at the skies.


For las…

285
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The South Wind And The Sun

The South Wind And The Sun

O The South Wind and the Sun!
How each loved the other one
Full of fancy--- full folly--
Full of jollity and fun!
H…

281
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

The Singer

The Singer

While with Ambition's hectic flame
He wastes the midnight oil,
And dreams, high-throned on heights of fame,
To rest him from his toil,-<…

249