James Whitcomb Riley

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h4>JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY</h4> <div class="stanza"> <div class="i0">(From a Westerner's Point of View.)</div> <br/></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="i0">No matter what you call it,</div> <br/> <div class="i1">Whether genius, or art,</div> <br/> <div class="i0">He sings the simple songs that come</div> <br/> <div class="i1">The closest to your heart.</div> <br/> <div class="i0">Fur trim an' skillful phrases,</div> <br/> <div class="i1">I do not keer a jot;</div> <br/> <div class="i0">'Tain't the words alone, but feelin's,</div> <br/> <div class="i1">That tech the tender spot.</div> <br/> <div class="i0">An' that's jest why I love him,&mdash;</div> <br/> <div class="i1">Why, he's got sech human feelin',</div> <br/> <div class="i0">An' in ev'ry song he gives us,</div> <br/> <div class="i1">You kin see it creepin', stealin',</div> <br/> <div class="i0">Through the core the tears go tricklin',</div> <br/> <div class="i1">But the edge is bright an' smiley;</div> <br/> <div class="i0">I never saw a poet</div> <br/> <div class="i1">Like that poet Whitcomb Riley.</div> <br/></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="i0">His heart keeps beatin' time with our'n</div> <br/> <div class="i1">In measures fast or slow;</div> <br/> <div class="i0">He tells us jest the same ol' things</div> <br/> <div class="i1">Our souls have learned to know.</div> <br/> <div class="i0">He paints our joys an' sorrers</div> <br/> <div class="i1">In a way so stric'ly true,</div> <br/> <div class="i0">That a body can't help knowin'</div> <br/> <div class="i1">That he has felt them too.</div> <br/> <div class="i0">If there's a lesson to be taught,</div> <br/> <div class="i1">He never fears to teach it,</div> <br/> <div class="i0">An' he puts the food so good an' low</div> <br/> <div class="i1">That the humblest one kin reach it.</div> <br/> <div class="i0">Now in our time, when poets rhyme</div> <br/> <div class="i1">For money, fun, or fashion,</div> <br/> <div class="i0">'Tis good to hear one voice so clear</div> <br/> <div class="i1">That thrills with honest passion.</div> <br/> <div class="i0">So let the others build their songs,</div> <br/> <div class="i1">An' strive to polish highly,&mdash;</div> <br/> <div class="i0">There's none of them kin tech the heart</div> <br/> <div class="i1">Like our own Whitcomb Riley.</div> <br/></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />