James Whitcomb Riley Poems

I come upon it suddenly, alone--
A little pathway winding in the weeds
That fringe the roadside; and with dreams my own,
I wander as it leads.
...

_The Child-World--long and long since lost to view--
A Fairy Paradise!--
How always fair it was and fresh and new--
...

O her beautiful eyes! they are as blue as the dew
On the violet's bloom when the morning is new,
...

1 O the Raggedy Man! He works fer Pa;
2 An' he's the goodest man ever you saw!
3 He comes to our house every day,
4 An' waters the horses, an' feeds 'em hay;
...

I dreamed I was a spider;
A big, fat, hungry spider;
A lusty, rusty spider
With a dozen palsied limbs;
...

I crave, dear Lord,
No boundless hoard
Of gold and gear,
Nor jewels fine,
...

I heard the bells at midnight
Ring in the dawning year;
And above the clanging chorus
Of the song, I seemed to hear
...

Who bides his time, and day by day
Faces defeat full patiently,
And lifts a mirthful roundelay,
However poor his fortunes be,--
...

A fantasy that came to me
As wild and wantonly designed
As ever any dream might be
Unraveled from a madman's mind,
...

A goddess, with a siren's grace,--
A sun-haired girl on a craggy place
Above a bay where fish-boats lay
Drifting about like birds of prey.
...