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 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

The Home-Going

We must get home--for we have been awaySo long it seems forever and a day!And O so very homesick we have grown,The laughter of the world is like a..

© James Whitcomb Riley

We Must Get Home

We must get home! How could we stray like this?--So far from home, we know not where it is,--Only in some fair, apple-blossomy placeOf children's..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Thanksgiving

Let us be thankful--not only becauseSince last our universal thanks were toldWe have grown greater in the world's applause,And fortune's newer smiles..

© James Whitcomb Riley

The Nine Little Goblins

They all climbed up on a high board-fence--Nine little Goblins, with green-glass eyes--Nine little Goblins that had no sense,And couldn't tell..

© James Whitcomb Riley

The Funny Little Fellow

'Twas a Funny Little FellowOf the very purest type,For he had a heart as mellowAs an apple over ripe;And the brightest little twinkleWhen a funny..

© James Whitcomb Riley