James Whitcomb Riley
1849–1916
Best-known poems
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Little Orphant Annie
Little orphant Annie ’s come to our house to stay,
An’ wash the cups and saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,
An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the hearth, an’ sweep, … -
Love's Prayer
Dear lord! kind Lord!
Gracious Lord! I pray
Thou wilt look on all I love, … -
The Way the Baby Slept
This is the way the baby slept:
A mist of tresses backward thrown
By quavering sighs where kisses crept … -
The Days Gone by
O The DAYS gone by! O the days gone by!
The apples in the orchard, and the pathway through the rye;
The chirrup of the robin, and the whistle of the quail …
All poems (22)
- A Life-LessonThere! little girl, don’t cry!
- An Old Sweetheart of MineAs one who cons at evening o’er an album all alone,
- BereavedLet me come in where you sit weeping,—ay,
- DwainieAy, dwainie!—my Dwainie!
- God Bless Us Every One"God bless us every one!" prayed Tiny Tim,
- Griggsby’s StationPap’s got his patent right, and rich as all creation;
- Honey Dripping from the CombHow slight a thing may set one’s fancy drifting
- Ike Walton's PrayerI crave, dear Lord,
- Little Orphant AnnieLittle orphant Annie ’s come to our house to stay,
- LongfellowThe winds have talked with him confidingly;
- Love's PrayerDear lord! kind Lord!
- On the Death of Little Mahala Ashcraft“little haly! Little Haly!” cheeps the robin in the tree;
- The Days Gone byO The DAYS gone by! O the days gone by!
- The First Blue-BirdJest rain and snow! and rain again!
- The Lost ThrillI grow so weary, someway, of all things
- The Man in the MoonSaid the Raggedy Man on a hot afternoon,
- The Old Man and JimOld man never had much to say—
- The Way the Baby SleptThis is the way the baby slept:
- The Way the Baby WokeAnd this is the way the baby woke:
- When She Comes HomeWhen she comes home again! A thousand ways
- “Knee-deep in June”I.
- “When the frost is on the punkin”When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder ’s in the shock,
