Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Good Man

A Good Man

I

A good man never dies--
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands, and honest eyes,
If smiles or tears be t…

294
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Full Harvest

A Full Harvest

Seems like a feller'd ort 'o jes' to-day
Git down and roll and waller, don't you know,
In that-air stubble, and flop up and crow, …

323
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Feel In The Chris'mas-Air

A Feel In The Chris'mas-Air

They's a kind o' _feel_ in the air, to me.
When the Chris'mas-times sets in.
That's about as much of a mystery

285
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Dream Of Long Ago

A Dream Of Long Ago

Lying listless in the mosses
Underneath a tree that tosses
Flakes of sunshine, and embosses
Its green shadow with the…

264
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Diverted Tragedy

A Diverted Tragedy

Gracie wuz allus a _careless_ tot;
But Gracie dearly loved her doll,
An' played wiv it on the winder-sill
'Way up-stai…

342
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Dream

A Dream

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

287
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Discouraging Model

A Discouraging Model

Just the airiest, fairiest slip of a thing,
With a Gainsborough hat, like a butterfly's wing,
Tilted up at one side with the…

267
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Cup Of Tea

A Cup Of Tea

I have sipped, with drooping lashes,
Dreamy draughts of Verzenay;
I have flourished brandy-smashes
In the wildest sort of wa…

285
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Christmas Memory

A Christmas Memory

Pa he bringed me here to stay
'Til my Ma she's well.--An' nen
He's go' hitch up, Chris'mus-day,
An' come take me back …

333
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Canary At The Farm

A Canary At The Farm

Folks has be'n to town, and Sahry
Fetched 'er home a pet canary--,
And of all the blame', contrary,
Aggervatin' thin…

339
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Barefoot Boy

A Barefoot Boy

A barefoot boy! I mark him at his play --
For May is here once more, and so is he, --
His dusty trousers, rolled half to the knee, <…

410
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

A Brave Refrain

A Brave Refrain

When snow is here, and the trees look weird,
And the knuckled twigs are gloved with frost;
When the breath congeals in the drover…

299
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley

As she told me it was father

As she told me it was father
From a foreign land returned.


. . . . . . .


I said--when I was calm again,
And thoug…

264
James Joyce
James Joyce

Winds of May

Winds of May

Winds of May, that dance on the sea,
Dancing a ring-around in glee
From furrow to furrow, while overhead
The foam flies up t…

223
James Joyce
James Joyce

When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven

When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven

When the shy star goes forth in heaven
All maidenly, disconsolate,
Hear you amid the drowsy even
O…

192
James Joyce
James Joyce

Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba

Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba

I heard their young hearts crying
Loveward above the glancing oar
And heard the prairie grasses sighing:

164
James Joyce
James Joyce

Thou Leanest to the Shell of Night

Thou Leanest to the Shell of Night

Thou leanest to the shell of night,
Dear lady, a divining ear.
In that soft choiring of delight
What s…

162
James Joyce
James Joyce

Tilly

Tilly


He travels after a winter sun,
Urging the cattle along a cold red road,
Calling to them, a voice they know,
He drives his b…

217
James Joyce
James Joyce

The Twilight Turns

The Twilight Turns

The twilight turns from amethyst
To deep and deeper blue,
The lamp fills with a pale green glow
The trees of the avenu…

181
James Joyce
James Joyce

Strings in the Earth and Air

Strings in the Earth and Air

Strings in the earth and air
Make music sweet;
Strings by the river where
The willows meet.

216
James Joyce
James Joyce

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now

Sleep now, O sleep now,
O you unquiet heart!
A voice crying "Sleep now"
Is heard in my heart.


183
James Joyce
James Joyce

Silently She's Combing

Silently She's Combing

Silently she's combing,
Combing her long hair
Silently and graciously,
With many a pretty air.

303
James Joyce
James Joyce

Of That So Sweet Imprisonment

Of That So Sweet Imprisonment

Of that so sweet imprisonment
My soul, dearest, is fain -- -
Soft arms that woo me to relent
And woo me to d…

336
James Joyce
James Joyce

Rain Has Fallen All the Day

Rain Has Fallen All the Day

Rain has fallen all the day.
O come among the laden trees:
The leaves lie thick upon the way
Of memories.

176