Poems

Poems List

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James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Liz Town Humorist

A Liz Town Humorist

Settin' round the stove, last night,
Down at Wess's store, was me
And Mart Strimples, Tunk, and White,
And Doc Bills, and two e…

299
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Letter To A Friend

A Letter To A Friend

The past is like a story
I have listened to in dreams
That vanished in the glory
Of the Morning's early gleams;
And--at …

263
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Good Man

A Good Man

I

A good man never dies--
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands, and honest eyes,
If smiles or tears be there:
Wh…

308
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Home-Made Fairy Tale

A Home-Made Fairy Tale

Bud, come here to your uncle a spell,
And I'll tell you something you mustn't tell--
For it's a secret and shore-'nuf true,
A…

358
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Full Harvest

A Full Harvest

Seems like a feller'd ort 'o jes' to-day
Git down and roll and waller, don't you know,
In that-air stubble, and flop up and crow,
Se…

334
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Feel In The Chris'mas-Air

A Feel In The Chris'mas-Air

They's a kind o' _feel_ in the air, to me.
When the Chris'mas-times sets in.
That's about as much of a mystery
As ever …

302
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Dream Of Long Ago

A Dream Of Long Ago

Lying listless in the mosses
Underneath a tree that tosses
Flakes of sunshine, and embosses
Its green shadow with the snow-Drow…

280
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Dream

A Dream

I dreamed I was a spider;
A big, fat, hungry spider;
A lusty, rusty spider
With a dozen palsied limbs;
With a dozen limbs that dangle…

302
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Discouraging Model

A Discouraging Model

Just the airiest, fairiest slip of a thing,
With a Gainsborough hat, like a butterfly's wing,
Tilted up at one side with the jauntie…

280
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Diverted Tragedy

A Diverted Tragedy

Gracie wuz allus a _careless_ tot;
But Gracie dearly loved her doll,
An' played wiv it on the winder-sill
'Way up-stairs, when s…

360
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Cup Of Tea

A Cup Of Tea

I have sipped, with drooping lashes,
Dreamy draughts of Verzenay;
I have flourished brandy-smashes
In the wildest sort of way;
I…

296
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Christmas Memory

A Christmas Memory

Pa he bringed me here to stay
'Til my Ma she's well.--An' nen
He's go' hitch up, Chris'mus-day,
An' come take me back again

350
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Brave Refrain

A Brave Refrain

When snow is here, and the trees look weird,
And the knuckled twigs are gloved with frost;
When the breath congeals in the drover's beard…

313
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Canary At The Farm

A Canary At The Farm

Folks has be'n to town, and Sahry
Fetched 'er home a pet canary--,
And of all the blame', contrary,
Aggervatin' things alive! …

351
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Barefoot Boy

A Barefoot Boy

A barefoot boy! I mark him at his play --
For May is here once more, and so is he, --
His dusty trousers, rolled half to the knee,
And…

429
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

As she told me it was father

As she told me it was father
From a foreign land returned.


. . . . . . .


I said--when I was calm again,
And thoughtfully once mor…

277
James Joyce
James Joyce

When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven

When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven

When the shy star goes forth in heaven
All maidenly, disconsolate,
Hear you amid the drowsy even
One who is …

210
James Joyce
James Joyce

Winds of May

Winds of May

Winds of May, that dance on the sea,
Dancing a ring-around in glee
From furrow to furrow, while overhead
The foam flies up to be garla…

239
James Joyce
James Joyce

Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba

Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba

I heard their young hearts crying
Loveward above the glancing oar
And heard the prairie grasses sighing:
No …

178
James Joyce
James Joyce

Tilly

Tilly


He travels after a winter sun,
Urging the cattle along a cold red road,
Calling to them, a voice they know,
He drives his beasts above …

231
James Joyce
James Joyce

Thou Leanest to the Shell of Night

Thou Leanest to the Shell of Night

Thou leanest to the shell of night,
Dear lady, a divining ear.
In that soft choiring of delight
What sound hath …

177
James Joyce
James Joyce

The Twilight Turns

The Twilight Turns

The twilight turns from amethyst
To deep and deeper blue,
The lamp fills with a pale green glow
The trees of the avenue.
<…

200
James Joyce
James Joyce

Strings in the Earth and Air

Strings in the Earth and Air

Strings in the earth and air
Make music sweet;
Strings by the river where
The willows meet.


There's …

231
James Joyce
James Joyce

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now

Sleep now, O sleep now,
O you unquiet heart!
A voice crying "Sleep now"
Is heard in my heart.


The voice of…

196