Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

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,…

355
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;

257
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 t…

302
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, …

331
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…

275
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

299
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…

297
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-stai…

350
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…

272
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 wa…

292
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 …

348
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' thin…

348
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, <…

422
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…

308
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 thoug…

272
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 t…

235
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:

173
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
O…

204
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 b…

229
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 s…

171
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 avenu…

195
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.

225
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.


195
James Joyce
James Joyce

Silently She's Combing

Silently She's Combing

Silently she's combing,
Combing her long hair
Silently and graciously,
With many a pretty air.

314