Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

At Crown Hill

At Crown Hill

Leave him here in the fresh
greening grasses and trees
And the symbols of love, and the solace of these-
The saintly white lilies and …

299
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

As My Uncle Used To Say

As My Uncle Used To Say

I've thought a power on men and things,
As my uncle ust to say,--
And ef folks don't work as they pray, i jings!
W'y, they a…

301
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

An Out-Worn Sappho

An Out-Worn Sappho

How tired I am! I sink down all alone
Here by the wayside of the Present. Lo,
Even as a child I hide my face and moan--
A little …

295
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

Art And Love

Art And Love

He faced his canvas (as a seer whose ken
Pierces the crust of this existence through)
And smiled beyond on that his genius knew
Ere ma…

328
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

An Impetuous Resolve

An Impetuous Resolve

When little Dickie Swope's a man,
He's go' to be a Sailor;
An' little Hamey Tincher, he's
A-go' to be a Tailor:
Bud Mitc…

340
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

An Old Sweetheart Of Mine

An Old Sweetheart Of Mine

As one who cons at evening o'er an album all alone,
And muses on the faces of the friends that he has known,
So I turn the leav…

354
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

An Autumnal Extravaganza

An Autumnal Extravaganza

With a sweeter voice than birds
Dare to twitter in their sleep,
Pipe for me a tune of words,
Till my dancing fancies leap …

279
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Wrangdillion

A Wrangdillion

Dexery-tethery! down in the dike,
Under the ooze and the slime,
Nestles the wraith of a reticent Gryke,
Blubbering bubbles of rhyme:…

266
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Worn-Out Pencil

A Worn-Out Pencil

Welladay!
Here I lay
You at rest--all worn away,
O my pencil, to the tip
Of our old companionship!


Memory…

296
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Voice From The Farm

A Voice From The Farm

It is my dream to have you here with me,
Out of the heated city's dust and din--
Here where the colts have room to gambol in,
…

287
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Tale Of The Airly Days

A Tale Of The Airly Days

Oh! tell me a tale of the airly days--
Of the times as they ust to be;
'Piller of Fi-er' and 'Shakespeare's Plays'
Is a' mo…

308
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Variation

A Variation

I am tired of this!
Nothing else but loving!
Nothing else but kiss and kiss,
Coo, and turtle-doving!
Can't you change the order s…

265
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Spring Song And A Later

A Spring Song And A Later

She sang a song of May for me,
Wherein once more I heard
The mirth of my glad infancy--
The orchard's earliest bird--

290
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Summer Afternoon

A Summer Afternoon

A languid atmosphere, a lazy breeze,
With labored respiration, moves the wheat
From distant reaches, till the golden seas
Break …

365
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Song Of Long Ago

A Song Of Long Ago

A song of Long Ago:
Sing it lightly--sing it low--
Sing it softly--like the lisping of the lips we used to know
When our baby-lau…

308
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Song of the Road

A Song of the Road

O I will walk with you, my lad, whichever way you fare,
You'll have me, too, the side o' you, with heart as light as air;
No care for …

286
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Scrawl

A Scrawl

I want to sing something-- but this is all--
I try and I try, but the rhymes are dull
As though they were damp, and the echoes fall
Limp an…

305
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Prospective Visit

A Prospective Visit

While _any_ day was notable and dear
That gave the children Noey, history here
Records his advent emphasized indeed
With sharp …

276
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Parent Reprimanded

A Parent Reprimanded

Sometimes I think 'at Parents does
Things ist about as bad as _us_--


Wite 'fore our vurry eyes, at that!
Fer one ti…

280
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Passing Hail

A Passing Hail

Let us rest ourselves a bit!
Worry?-- wave your hand to it --
Kiss your finger-tips and smile
It farewell a little while.

335
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A New Year's Time At Willards's

A New Year's Time At Willards's

1
The Hired Man Talks

There's old man Willards; an' his wife;
An' Marg'et-- S'repty's sister--; an'
The…

308
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Noted Traveler

A Noted Traveler

Even in such a scene of senseless play
The children were surprised one summer-day
By a strange man who called across the fence,
In…

319
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Monument For The Soldiers

A Monument For The Soldiers

A monument for the Soldiers!
And what will ye build it of?
Can ye build it of marble, or brass, or bronze,
Outlasting t…

274
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Man Of Many Parts

A Man Of Many Parts

It was a man of many parts,
Who in his coffer mind
Had stored the Classics and the Arts
And Sciences combined;
The purest…

310