James Whitcomb Riley Poems

O we go down to sea in ships--
But Hope remains behind,
And Love, with laughter on his lips,
...

My father's halls, so rich and rare,
Are desolate and bleak and bare;
My father's heart and halls are one,
...

O it was but a dream I had
While the musician played!--
And here the sky, and here the glad
Old ocean kissed the glade--
...

When country roads begin to thaw
In mottled spots of damp and dust,
And fences by the margin draw
...

They walk here with us, hand-in-hand;
We gossip, knee-by-knee;
They tell us all that they have planned--
...

But yesterday!...
O blooms of May,
And summer roses--Where-away?
...

1
The Hired Man Talks
There's old man Willards; an' his wife;
...

We got up a Christmas-doin's
Last Christmas Eve--
Kindo' dimonstration
'At I railly believe
...

When Little Claude was naughty wunst
At dinner-time, an' said
He won't say '_Thank you_' to his Ma,
She maked him go to bed
...

'They ain't much 'tale' about it!' Noey said.--
'K'tawby grapes wuz gittin' good-n-red
I rickollect; and Tubb Kingry and me
...