James Whitcomb Riley Poems

A was an elegant Ape
Who tied up his ears with red tape,
And wore a long veil
Half revealing his tail
...

Dexery-tethery! down in the dike,
Under the ooze and the slime,
Nestles the wraith of a reticent Gryke,
Blubbering bubbles of rhyme:
...

I am tired of this!
Nothing else but loving!
Nothing else but kiss and kiss,
Coo, and turtle-doving!
...

'Mylo Jones's wife' was all
I heerd, mighty near, last Fall--
Visitun relations down
...

If from your own the dimpled hands had slipped,
And ne'er would nestle in your palm again;
If the white feet into the grave had tripped--'
...

The ripest peach is highest on the tree --
And so her love, beyond the reach of me,
Is dearest in my sight. Sweet breezes, bow
Her heart down to me where I worship now!
...

They called him Mr. What's-his-name:
From where he was, or why he came,
Or when, or what he found to do,
Nobody in the city knew.
...

Sing! gangling lad, along the brink
Of wild brook-ways of shoal and deep,
Where killdees dip, and cattle drink,
And glinting little minnows leap!
...

With a sweeter voice than birds
Dare to twitter in their sleep,
Pipe for me a tune of words,
...

There is a princess in the South
About whose beauty rumors hum
Like honey-bees about the mouth
...