JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.COM

"Where we celebrate the child in us all"

Contents. A Welcome to Riley,   (Below) Frank L. Stanton........................ 21   Riley: the Poet and Man.................. 23   "As us boys ust to be".................... 35   "I'd ruther work when I wanted to than be bossed round by others" 51   " Tel now it's Fame 'at writes your name".................................... .......  63   "Writ from the hart out"................. 79   "Fer forty years and better you have been a friend to me"...................... 93

 

 

A Welcome to Riley

Jim Riley—he's a-comin' to Atlanta, so they say, An' we hear our hearts a-hummin' as they meet him on the way ;

For who ain't heard o' Riley Jim Riley o' the West,

An' loved his song until they long to tell him " He's the best ! "

When a feller gets to readin' him, it's half a laugh an' sigh,

A-heavin' o' the heartstrings, an' a-waterin' o' the eye;

An' you dream in velvet valleys, an' you wade in dewy grass,

While your soul takes in the twanglin' of the doves' wings as they pass.

The world takes on more color; the springtime is more sweet,

An' the dear "old-fashioned roses " seem to blos­som at your feet;

An' you hear the farm boy singin' at the ox-team that he drives.

While the buzzin' bees are bringin' all the honey to the hives !

So, let him come—Jim Riley, an' let him take this song

Of one he knows, a wind-blown rose from them who've loved him long ;

Jes' take it as a welcome, an' wear it in his breast Until we look him in the face an' tell him " He's the best "

—Frank L. Stanton.