RILEY FARM-RHYMES
By James Whitcomb Riley
Inscribed with all Grateful Esteem
TO THE GOOD OLD-FASHIONED PEOPLE
The deadnin' and the thicket's jes' a b'ilin' full o' June,
From the rattle o' the cricket, to the yaller-hammer's tune;
And the catbird in the bottom and the sap-suck on the
snag,
Seems's ef they cain't—od-rot-'em!—jes' do nothin' else
but brag!
There' music in the twitter o' the bluebird and the jay,
And that sassy little critter jes' a-peckin' all the day;
There' music in the "flicker," and there' music in the
thrush,
And there' music in the snicker o' the chipmunk in the
brush!—
There' music all around me!—And I go back—in a dream
Sweeter yit than ever found me fast asleep:—And, in the
stream
That used to split the medder wher' the dandylions
growed,
I stand knee-deep, and redder than the sunset down the
road.
CONTENTS
[ TO THE GOOD OLD-FASHIONED PEOPLE ]
[ THE ORCHARD LANDS OF LONG AGO ]
[ WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN ]
[ WHEN THE GREEN GITS BACK IN THE TREES ]
[ THOUGHTS FER THE DISCURAGED FARMER ]
[ WHERE THE CHILDREN USED TO PLAY ]
[ UP AND DOWN OLD BRANDYWINE ]