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").

Orlie Wilde

A goddess, with a siren's grace,--A sun-haired girl on a craggy placeAbove a bay where fish-boats layDrifting about like birds of prey.Wrought was..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Fantasy

A fantasy that came to meAs wild and wantonly designedAs ever any dream might beUnraveled from a madman's mind,--A tangle-work of tissue, wroughtBy..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Who Bides His Time

Who bides his time, and day by dayFaces defeat full patiently,And lifts a mirthful roundelay,However poor his fortunes be,--He will not fail in any..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Song Of The New Year

I heard the bells at midnightRing in the dawning year;And above the clanging chorusOf the song, I seemed to hearA choir of mystic voicesFlinging..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Ike Walton's Prayer

I crave, dear Lord,No boundless hoardOf gold and gear,Nor jewels fine,Nor lands, nor kine,Nor treasure-heaps of anything.-Let but a little hut be..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Dream

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

© James Whitcomb Riley

The Raggedy Man

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..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Her Beautiful Eyes

O her beautiful eyes! they are as blue as the dewOn the violet's bloom when the morning is new,And the light of their love is the gleam of the..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Child-World

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

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Country Pathway

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

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Good Man

IA good man never dies--In worthy deed and prayerAnd helpful hands, and honest eyes,If smiles or tears be there:Who lives for you and me--Lives for..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Passing Hail

Let us rest ourselves a bit!Worry?-- wave your hand to it --Kiss your finger-tips and smileIt farewell a little while.Weary of the weary wayWe have..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Dream Of Long Ago

Lying listless in the mossesUnderneath a tree that tossesFlakes of sunshine, and embossesIts green shadow with the snow--Drowsy-eyed, I sink in..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Masque Of The Seasons

Scene.--_A kitchen.--Group of Children, popping corn.--The Fairy Queenof the Seasons discovered in the smoke of the corn-popper.--Waving herwand..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Our Hired Girl

1 Our hired girl, she's 'Lizabuth Ann;2 An' she can cook best things to eat!3 She ist puts dough in our pie-pan,4 An' pours in somepin' 'at's good..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Liberty

New Castle, July 4, 1878or a hundred years the pulse of timeHas throbbed for Liberty;For a hundred years the grand old climeColumbia has been..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Parting Guest

What delightful hosts are they -- Life and Love!Lingeringly I turn away, This late hour, yet glad enoughThey have not withheld from me Their..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Song Of The Road

O I will walk with you, my lad, whichever way you fare,You'll have me, too, the side o' you, with heart as light as air;No care for where the road..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Away

I cannot say, and I will not sayThat he is dead- . He is just away!With a cheery smile, and a wave of the handHe has wandered into an unknown..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Poet's Wooing

I woo'd a woman once,But she was sharper than an eastern wind.Tennyson"What may I do to make you glad,To make you glad and free,Till your light..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Dream

Because her eyes were far too deepAnd holy for a laugh to leapAcross the brink where sorrow triedTo drown within the amber tide;Because the looks..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Granny

1 Granny's come to our house,2 And ho! my lawzy-daisy!3 All the childern round the place4 Is ist a-runnin' crazy!5 Fetched a cake fer little Jake,6..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Cup Of Tea

I have sipped, with drooping lashes,Dreamy draughts of Verzenay;I have flourished brandy-smashesIn the wildest sort of way;I have joked with 'Tom and..

© James Whitcomb Riley

A Noon Interval

A deep, delicious hush in earth and sky --A gracious lull--since, from its wakening,The morn has been a feverish, restless thingIn which the pulse of..

© James Whitcomb Riley

Knee-Deep In June

Tell you what I like the best --'Long about knee-deep in June,'Bout the time strawberries meltsOn the vine, -- some afternoonLike to jes' git out and..

© James Whitcomb Riley