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 Little Town O' Tailholt
You kin boast about yer cities, and their stiddy growth and size,And brag about yer County-seats, and business enterprise,And railroads, and..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Sermon Of The Rose
Wilful we are in our infirmityOf childish questioning and discontent.Whate'er befalls us is divinely meant--Thou Truth the clearer for thy..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Same Old Story
The same old story told again--The maiden droops her head,The ripening glow of her crimson cheekIs answering in her stead.The pleading tone of a..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Old-Home Folks
Such was the Child-World of the long-ago--The little world these children used to know:--Johnty, the oldest, and the best, perhaps,Of the five happy..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Pet Coon
Noey Bixler ketched him, and fetched him in to meWhen he's ist a little teenty-weenty baby-coon'Bout as big as little pups, an' tied him to a..
© James Whitcomb Riley
Right Here At Home
Right here at home, boys, in old Hoosierdom,Where strangers allus joke us when they come,And brag o' _their_ old States and interprize--Yit _settle_..
© James Whitcomb Riley
When Age Comes On
When Age comes on!--'The deepening dusk is where the dawnOnce glittered splendid, and the dewIn honey-drips, from red rose-lipsWas kissed away by me..
© James Whitcomb Riley
We Are Not Always Glad When We Smile
We are not always glad when we smile:Though we wear a fair face and are gay,And the world we deceiveMay not ever believeWe could laugh in a happier..
© James Whitcomb Riley
To The Judge
_A Voice From the Interior of Old Hoop-Pole Township_Friend of my earliest youth,Can't you arrange to come downAnd visit a fellow out here in the..
© James Whitcomb Riley
To Annie
When the lids of dusk are fallingO'er the dreamy eyes of day,And the whippoorwills are calling,And the lesson laid away,--May Mem'ry soft and..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Watches Of The Night
O the waiting in the watches of the night!In the darkness, desolation, and contrition and affright;The awful hush that holds us shut away from all..
© James Whitcomb Riley
Red Riding-Hood
Sweet little myth of the nursery story--Earliest love of mine infantile breast,Be something tangible, bloom in thy gloryInto existence, as thou art..
© James Whitcomb Riley
The Rain
I.The rain! the rain! the rain!It gushed from the skies and streamedLike awful tears; and the sick man thoughtHow pitiful it seemed!And he turned his..
© James Whitcomb Riley
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