Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
The Pixy People
It was just a veryMerry fairy dream!--All the woods were airyWith the gloom and gleam;Crickets in the cloverClattered clear and strong,And the bees..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Old Trundle-Bed
O the old trundle-bed where I slept when a boy!What canopied king might not covet the joy?The glory and peace of that slumber of mine,Like a long..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Sphinx
I know all about the Sphinx--I know even what she thinks,Staring with her stony eyesUp forever at the skies.For last night I dreamed that sheTold me..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Lost Kiss
I put by the half-written poem,While the pen, idly trailed in my hand,Writes on--, 'Had I words to complete it,Who'd read it, or who'd..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Lugubrious Whing-Whang
The rhyme o' The Raggedy Man's 'at's bestIs Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs,--'Cause that-un's the strangest of all o' the rest,An' the worst..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Days Gone By
O the days gone by! O the days gone by!The apples in the orchard, and the pathway through the rye;The chirrup of the robin, and the whistle of the..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Happy Little Cripple
I'm thist a little cripple boy, an' never goin' to growAn' get a great big man at all!--'cause Aunty told me so.When I was thist a baby onc't, I..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Old Home By The Mill
This is 'The old Home by the Mill'--far we still call it so,Although the old mill, roof and sill, is all gone long ago.The old home, though, and old..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Runaway Boy
Wunst I sassed my Pa, an' heWon't stand that, an' punished me,--Nen when he was gone that day,I slipped out an' runned away.I tooked all my..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Circus-Day Parade
Oh, the Circus-Day parade! How the bugles played and played!And how the glossy horses tossed their flossy manes, and neighed,As the rattle and the..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Blossoms On The Trees
Blossoms crimson, white, or blue,Purple, pink, and every hue,From sunny skies, to tintings drownedIn dusky drops of dew,I praise you all, wherever..
© James Whitcomb Riley
Up And Down Old Brandywine
Up and down old Brandywine,In the days 'at's past and gone--With a dad-burn hook-and lineAnd a saplin' pole--swawn!I've had more fun, to the..
© James Whitcomb Riley
To Robert Burns
Sweet Singer that I loe the maistO' ony, sin' wi' eager hasteI smacket bairn-lips ower the tasteO' hinnied sang,I hail thee, though a blessed..
© James Whitcomb Riley
Squire Hawkins's Story
I hain't no hand at tellin' tales,Er spinnin' yarns, as the sailors say;Someway o' 'nother, language failsTo slide fer me in the oily wayThat LAWYERS..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Treasure Of The Wise Man
O the night was dark and the night was late,And the robbers came to rob him;And they picked the locks of his palace-gate,The robbers that came to rob..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Lost Thrill
I grow so weary, someway, of all thingsThat love and loving have vouchsafed to me,Since now all dreamed-of sweets of ecstasyAm I possessed of: The..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Little Fat Doctor
He seemed so strange to me, every way--In manner, and form, and size,From the boy I knew but yesterday,--I could hardly believe my eyes!To hear his..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Legend Glorified
'I deem that God is not disquieted'--This in a mighty poet's rhymes I read;And blazoned so forever doth abideWithin my soul the legend..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Old Hay-Mow
The Old Hay-mow's the place to playFer boys, when it's a rainy day!I good-'eal ruther be up thereThan down in town, er anywhere!When I play in our..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Good, Old-Fashioned People
When we hear Uncle Sidney tellAbout the long-agoAn' old, old friends he loved so wellWhen _he_ was young--My-oh!--Us childern all wish _we'd 'a'_..
© James Whitcomb Riley
Say Something To Me
Say something to me! I've waited so long--Waited and wondered in vain;Only a sentence would fall like a songOver this listening pain--Over a silence..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Brook-Song
Little brook! Little brook!You have such a happy look--Such a very merry manner, as you swerve andcurve and crook--And your ripples, one and..
© James Whitcomb Riley
Song Of Parting
Say farewell, and let me go;Shatter every vow!All the future can bestowWill be welcome now!And if this fair hand I touchI have worshipped overmuch,It..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Iron Horse
No song is mine of Arab steed--My courser is of nobler blood,And cleaner limb and fleeter speed,And greater strength and hardihoodThan ever cantered..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Old Retired Sea Captain
The old sea captain has sailed the seasSo long, that the waves at mirth,Or the waves gone wild, and the crests of these,Were as near playmates from..
© James Whitcomb Riley