Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

In The South

In The South

There is a princess in the South
About whose beauty rumors hum
Like honey-bees about the mouth
Of roses dewdrops falter from…

281
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

In The Dark

In The Dark

O in the depths of midnight
What fancies haunt the brain!
When even the sigh of the sleeper
Sounds like a sob of pain.

298
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Ike Walton's Prayer

Ike Walton's Prayer

I crave, dear Lord,
No boundless hoard
Of gold and gear,
Nor jewels fine,
Nor lands, nor kine,
Nor tr…

345
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

In Bohemia

In Bohemia

Ha! My dear! I'm back again--
Vendor of Bohemia's wares!
Lordy! How it pants a man
Climbing up those awful stairs!
Well…

288
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

If I Knew What Poets Know

If I Knew What Poets Know

If I knew what poets know,
Would I write a rhyme
Of the buds that never blow
In the summer-time?
Would …

290
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

How John Quit The Farm

How John Quit The Farm

Nobody on the old farm here but Mother, me and John,
Except, of course, the extry he'p when harvest-time come on--
And then…

347
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

How Did You Rest, Last Night?

How Did You Rest, Last Night?

'How did you rest, last night?'-I've
heard my gran'pap say
Them words a thousand times--that's right--
Jes t…

323
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Home At Night

Home At Night

When chirping crickets fainter cry,
And pale stars blossom in the sky,
And twilight's gloom has dimmed the bloom
And blurre…

285
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

His Room

His Room

'I'm home again, my dear old Room,
I'm home again, and happy, too,
As, peering through the brightening gloom,
I find myself alon…

322
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

His Mother

His Mother

DEAD! my wayward boy--_my own_--
Not _the Law's!_ but _mine_--the good
God's free gift to me alone,
Sanctified by motherhood. <…

358
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Her Hair

Her Hair

The beauty of her hair bewilders me--
Pouring adown the brow, its cloven tide
Swirling about the ears on either side
And storming…

360
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Herr Weiser

Herr Weiser

Herr Weiser--! Three-score-years-and-ten--,
A hale white rose of his country-men,
Transplanted here in the Hoosier loam,
And …

360
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Heat-Lightning

Heat-Lightning


There was a curious quiet for a space
Directly following: and in the face
Of one rapt listener pulsed the flush and glow <…

326
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Her Beautiful Hands

Her Beautiful Hands

Your hands--they are strangely fair!
O Fair--for the jewels that sparkle there,-Fair--
for the witchery of the spell
T…

289
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Harlie

Harlie


Fold the little waxen hands
Lightly. Let your warmest tears
Speak regrets, but never fears,--
Heaven understands!
L…

287
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

He And I

He And I

Just drifting on together--
He and I--
As through the balmy weather
Of July
Drift two thistle-tufts imbedded
Each …

317
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Grant At Rest-- August 8, 1885

Grant At Rest-- August 8, 1885

Sir Launcelot rode overthwart and endlong in a wide forest, and held no
path but as wild adventure led him... And he retur…

320
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Green Fields And Running Brooks

Green Fields And Running Brooks

Ho! green fields and running brooks!
Knotted strings and fishing-hooks
Of the truant, stealing down
Weedy…

274
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

George Mullen's Confession

George Mullen's Confession

For the sake of guilty conscience, and the heart that ticks the
time
Of the clockworks of my nature, I desire to say t…

334
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Grandfather Squeers

Grandfather Squeers

'My grandfather Squeers,' said The Raggedy Man,
As he solemnly lighted his pipe and began-


'The most indestruc…

317
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Friday Afternoon

Friday Afternoon

To William Morris Pierson
[1868-1870]


Of the wealth of facts and fancies
That our memories may recall, <…

357
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Fool-Youngens

Fool-Youngens


Me an' Bert an' Minnie-Belle
Knows a joke, an' we won't tell!
No, we don't--'cause we don't know
_Why_ we got to la…

325
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Find The Favorite

Find The Favorite

Our three cats is Maltese cats,
An' they's two that's white,--
An' bofe of 'em's _deef_--an' that's
'Cause their _eyes_ …

294
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Farmer Whipple--Bachelor

Farmer Whipple--Bachelor

It's a mystery to see me--a man o' fifty-four,
Who's lived a cross old bachelor fer thirty year' and more-A-
lookin' glad…

381