Poems

Poems List

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James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Extremes

Extremes


I

A little boy once played so loud
That the Thunder, up in a thunder-cloud,
Said, 'Since I can't be heard, why, then
I'l…

327
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 and smi…

389
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Elmer Brown

Elmer Brown

Awf'lest boy in this-here town
Er anywheres is Elmer Brown!
He'll mock you--yes, an' strangers, too,
An' make a face an' yell at you,-'…

327
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dusk

Dusk


The frightened herds of clouds across the sky
Trample the sunshine down, and chase the day
Into the dusky forest-lands of gray
And sombr…

397
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Down On Wriggle Crick

Down On Wriggle Crick

'Best time to kill a hog's when he's fat.' --Old Saw.

Mostly folks is law-abidin'
Down on Wriggle Crick--,
Seein' they'…

315
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dreamer, Say

Dreamer, Say

Dreamer, say, will you dream for me
A wild sweet dream of a foreign land,
Whose border sips of a foaming sea
With lips of coral and si…

292
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dot Leedle Boy

Dot Leedle Boy

Ot's a leedle Gristmas story
Dot I told der leedle folks--
Und I vant you stop dot laughin'
Und grackin' funny jokes!--
So help …

301
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Doc Sifers

Doc Sifers

Of all the doctors I could cite you to in this-'ere town
Doc Sifers is my favorite, jes' take him up and down!
Count in the Bethel Neighberhoo…

318
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dead Leaves

Dead Leaves

DAWN

As though a gipsy maiden with dim look,
Sat crooning by the roadside of the year,
So, Autumn, in thy strangeness, thou art h…

303
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dear Hands

Dear Hands

The touches of her hands are like the fall
Of velvet snowflakes; like the touch of down
The peach just brushes 'gainst the garden wall;
…

335
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dawn, Noon And Dewfall

Dawn, Noon And Dewfall

I.
Dawn, noon and dewfall! Bluebird and robin
Up and at it airly, and the orchard-blossoms bobbin'!
Peekin' from the winder,…

382
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Dan Paine

Dan Paine

Old friend of mine, whose chiming name
Has been the burthen of a rhyme
Within my heart since first I came
To know thee in thy mellow prim…

272
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Company Manners

Company Manners

When Bess gave her Dollies a Tea, said she,-'
It's unpolite, when they's Company,
To say you've drinked _two_ cups, you see,--
But sa…

313
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Craqueodoom

Craqueodoom


The Crankadox leaned o'er the edge of the moon
And wistfully gazed on the sea
Where the Gryxabodill madly whistled a tune
To the …

316
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Blooms Of May

Blooms Of May

But yesterday!...
O blooms of May,
And summer roses--Where-away?
O stars above,
And lips of love
And all the honeyed swee…

303
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

By Her White Bed

By Her White Bed

By her white bed I muse a little space:
She fell asleep--not very long ago,--
And yet the grass was here and not the snow--
The leaf…

307
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Bewildering Emotions

Bewildering Emotions

The merriment that followed was subdued--
As though the story-teller's attitude
Were dual, in a sense, appealing quite
As much …

296
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Billy's Alphabetical Animal Show

Billy's Alphabetical Animal Show

A was an elegant Ape
Who tied up his ears with red tape,
And wore a long veil
Half revealing his tail
Which …

240
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Bedouin

Bedouin


O love is like an untamed steed!--
So hot of heart and wild of speed,
And with fierce freedom so in love,
The desert is not vast enoug…

317
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Back From A Two-years' Sentence

Back From A Two-years' Sentence

Back from a two-years' sentence!
And though it had been ten,
You think, I were scarred no deeper
In the eyes of my …

276
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

August

August


A day of torpor in the sullen heat
Of Summer's passion: In the sluggish stream
The panting cattle lave their lazy feet,
With drowsy ey…

325
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Away

Away


I cannot say, and I will not say
That he is dead--. He is just away!


With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand
He has wand…

327
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

At Sea

At Sea

O we go down to sea in ships--
But Hope remains behind,
And Love, with laughter on his lips,
And Peace, of passive mind;
While out acro…

258
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

At Noey's House

At Noey's House

At Noey's house--when they arrived with him--
How snug seemed everything, and neat and trim:
The little picket-fence, and little gate-It's…

250