Chapter I: Front Matter

RILEY LOVE-LYRICS

RILEY LOVE-LYRICS

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

WITH LIFE PICTURES BY WILLIAM B. DYER

NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1883, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1901, 1905

by

James Whitcomb Riley

INSCRIBED

To the Elect of Love,--or side-by-side In raptest ecstasy, or sundered wide By seas that bear no message to or fro Between the loved and lost of long ago.

So were I but a minstrel, deft
At weaving, with the trembling strings
Of my glad harp, the warp and weft
Of rondels such as rapture sings,--
I'd loop my lyre across my breast,
Nor stay me till my knee found rest
In midnight banks of bud and flower
Beneath my lady's lattice-bower.

And there, drenched with the teary dews,
I'd woo her with such wondrous art
As well might stanch the songs that ooze
Out of the mockbird's breaking heart;
So light, so tender, and so sweet
Should be the words I would repeat,
Her casement, on my gradual sight,
Would blossom as a lily might.

CONTENTS

PAGE

BLOOMS OF MAY 185

DISCOURAGING MODEL, A 133

"DREAM" 46

FARMER WHIPPLE--BACHELOR 167

HAS SHE FORGOTTEN? 181

HE AND I 83

HE CALLED HER IN 50

HER BEAUTIFUL EYES 60

HER HAIR 128

HER FACE AND BROW 63

HER WAITING FACE 71

HOME AT NIGHT 122

HOW IT HAPPENED 95

IKE WALTON'S PRAYER 107

ILLILEO 111

JUDITH 79

LAST NIGHT AND THIS 131

LEONAINIE 68

LET US FORGET 64

LOST PATH, THE 87

MY BRIDE THAT IS TO BE 90

MY MARY 117

NOTHIN' TO SAY 103

OLD PLAYED-OUT SONG, A' 31

OLD SWEETHEART OF MINE, AN 23

OLD YEAR AND THE NEW, THE 72

OUT-WORN SAPPHO, AN 37

PASSING OF A HEART, THE 44

RIVAL, THE 148

ROSE, THE 178

SERMON OF THE ROSE, THE 189

SONG OF LONG AGO, A 160

SUSPENSE 136

THEIR SWEET SORROW 76

TO HEAR HER SING 146

TOM VAN ARDEN 139

TOUCHES OF HER HANDS, THE 157

VARIATION, A 151

VERY YOUTHFUL AFFAIR, A 36

WHEN AGE COMES ON 164

WHEN LIDE MARRIED _Him_ 125

WHEN MY DREAMS COME TRUE 99

WHEN SHE COMES HOME 67

WHERE SHALL WE LAND 154

WIFE-BLESSÉD, THE 115

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

LOVE-LYRICS FRONTISPIECE

ILLUSTRATIONS--TAILPIECE xx

AN OLD SWEETHEART OF MINE 23

AND I LIGHT MY PIPE IN SILENCE 24

THE VOICES OF MY CHILDREN 25

THE PINK SUNBONNET 26

WHEN FIRST I KISSED HER 27

MY WIFE IS STANDING THERE 30

A' OLD PLAYED-OUT SONG 33

A' OLD PLAYED-OUT SONG--TAILPIECE 35

A VERY YOUTHFUL AFFAIR 36

AN OUT-WORN SAPPHO 41

AN OUT-WORN SAPPHO--TAILPIECE 43

THE PASSING OF A HEART--TITLE 44

THE PASSING OF A HEART--TAILPIECE 45

"DREAM" 47

"DREAM"--TAILPIECE 49

HE CALLED HER IN--TITLE 50

A DARK AND EERIE CHILD 51

WHEN SHE FIRST CAME TO ME 57

HE CALLED HER IN--TAILPIECE 59

HER BEAUTIFUL EYES 61

HER FACE AND BROW 63

LET US FORGET--TITLE 64

OUR WORN EYES ARE WET 65

WHEN SHE COMES HOME 67

LEONAINIE--TITLE 68

LEONAINIE--TAILPIECE 70

HER WAITING FACE 71

THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW--TITLE 72