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JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
THE POET AS FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT

by

Thomas Earl Williams

with primary illustrations by Katherine Kuonen and the great assistance of Robert Tinsley
with Riley artifacts

Copyright, 1997, Thomas Earl Williams

Coiny Publishing Co., P.O. Box 585, Greenfield, IN 46140
317/462-7758

Oil painting on canvas of Riley (1903) by John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925). Sargent waived his usual commission of Five Thousand Dollars to have the opportunity to paint this foundation piece of the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Copyright Indianapolis Museum of Art, Painted on Commission from the Art Association of Indianapolis. It is said Riley secretly hated the piece because it faithfully revealed his disfigured hand rendered useless by a stroke in his last years.

DEDICATION

Dorothy June June Jackson Williams (1906-1995). James Whitcomb Riley Birthplace Hostess at Greenfield, Indiana (1957-1995).

All of the truth I know tells me you are not dead but simply away as James Whitcomb Riley's poem "Away" describes. Enjoy now the accompaniment of others rather than those who, on earth, sang to fret­fully. I have experienced no wonder so great as to be in the presence of you, most wondrous woman of women.. This book is most lov­ingly dedicated to you. I miss you terribly, my AEo. "What'll I do when you are far way\And I am blue what'll I do?"

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY:
THE POET AS FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT

    AN INTRODUCTION TO JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY: HIS WAYWARD SONG
         A "Twinorette" in the Morning Paper 
         THE POEM "FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT"
         A Brief Introduction to Riley's Autobiographical Poem
              Act I
              Act II
              Act III
         Comments on the Poem
         The Flying Islands as Theater
         RECOVERING Alcoholic's Genre Literature

    JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY AS JUCKLET, THE MINSTREL

    JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY AS AMPHINE, THE LOVER AND FRIEND

    JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY AS CRESTILLOMEEM, DEALING WITH DEPRESSION
                    RILEY'S FOUR PERIODS OF GREATEST DEPRESSION
               RILEY'S DEPRESSION FOLLOWING THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF HIS MOTHER, HIS FIRST GREAT DEPRESSIVE EPISODE
               RILEY'S SECOND GREAT PERIOD OF DEPRESSION FOLLOWING A HOMETOWN LYNCHING

        RILEY'S THIRD ENCOUNTER WITH DEPRESSION FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF NELLIE
     RILEY's BREAKDOWN FROM THE Breakup with Nye

James Whitcomb Riley as a Singer to the Humble (The "Spraivoll" of his Autobiographical Poem)
     A POETRY OF FRONTIER SONG AND DOGGEREL WOVEN AND WARPED IN CADENCED MYSTERY.
      RILEY FAMILY POETRY
      LONGFELLOW AND OTHER POETS WHO INFLUENCED RILEY
      PARTIAL LIST OF PUBLISHED HOOSIER POETS OF THE POST CIVIL WAR ERA   
      SPECIAL POETRY OF NATURE FROM RILEY'S DELPHI PERIOD
       POETRY FOR NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION
      A POET WHOSE BOOKS CAME TO BE AMERICAN BEST SELLERS
      RILEY BOOKS OF POETRY PUBLISHED DURING HIS LIFETIME
      THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOOSIER LITERATURE

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY AS A HUMOROUS MAN, "MR. BRYCE," "LECTURING" ACROSS THE
COUNTRY WITH A "SAD FACE" NOBODY SEES
      JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY ON THE LYCEUM CIRCUIT
      JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL'S ASSESSMENT OF RILEY AS A "TRUE POET"
      MARK TWAIN'S INTRODUCTION TO A NYE AND RILEY PERFORMANCE
      MEREDITH NICHOLSON ON RILEY'S TALENT AS A READER

"KRUNG":JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY AS AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS POET OF HIS TIME, THE PROBLEM OF FAME; A KING OF POETRY WHO IS ALSO DEPRESSED, ALCOHOLIC AND LIVING AS DEAD SELVES
     RILEY'S HERITAGE FROM HIS FATHER, A CIVIL WAR PATRIOT
     RILEY BECOMES AMERICA'S BELOVED NATIONAL POET
     NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS OF RILEY'S BIRTHDAYS

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY, "BUD," A CHILD TUCKED ALL INSIDE, AMERICA'S CHILDREN'S POET
     RRILEY DAY PROCLAMATION 1949
     AN ASIDE ON RILEY AND PALMISTRY
     RILEY AND "RAGGEDY ANN" - AMERICA'S MOST ENDURING CHILD'S DOLL
     RILEY IN THE NATION'S HEART
 

FOR REFERENCES BY PAGES IN THE BOOK SEE THE INDEX BELOW:

I A Wayward Song...............................................................................2
     A Twinorette in the Morning Paper                                              10

II The Flying Islands of the Night                                                     12
   A Brief Introduction to Riley's Autobiographical Poem                 14
          Act I 2-1 1                                                                               20 

              Act II
              Act III                                                                                                                    34
Comments on the Poem                                                                                                    58
The Flying Islands as Theater                                                                                          59
Alcoholic's Genre Literature                                                                                              60

...Squeers I

MY GRANDFATHER SQUEERS

So remarkably deaf was my Grand-father Squeers
That he had to wear lightning-rods over his ears
To even hear thunder, and oftentimes then,
He was forced to request it to thunder again.

And so glaringly bald was the top of his head
That many's the time he has solemnly said,

As his eye journeyed o'er its reflex in the glass:

"I must be out a few signs of "Keep off the Grass!'"'

(from Kokomo TRIBUNE May 1, 1880)

III Jucklet Part 1                                                                        60-98
       Jucklet Part 2                                                                         99-168

How can Riley Survive It All? Jucklet, a Minstrel Who Answers the Call through Mischief       68

IV Amphine Part 1                                                                     170-207
     Amphine Part 2                                                                     208- 247

Where is Love for Riley? - Amphine's Woman Problems

and Capacities for Great Friendships

V Crestillomeem Part 1                                                             248-279
   Crestillomeem Part 2                                                             280-315
   Crestillomeem Part 3                                                             316-351
   Crestillomeem Part 4                                                             352- 373

FOR HIGHLIGHTS SEE REFERENCES BELOW:

     Drunkenness and Delirium Tremens as a Lady Trying to

Ruin Riley's Life .................................................................. 250

Riley's Four Great Encounters with Crestillomeem ............... 265

Crestillomeem's First Great Encounter with Riley

After the Death of His Mother............................................. 267

Crestillomeem's Second Great Encounter with Riley

After the Lynching of Kemmer ........................................... 303

.

Crestillomeem's Third Great Encounter with Riley

After the Death of Nellie .................................................... 323

Crestillomeem's Final Great Encounter with Riley

Resulting in the Breakup with Nye ................................... 355

V. Spraivoll

An Inspirer of Sweet Poetry from the Message of the

"Christ Hymn" ...................................................................... 376

A Poetry of Frontier Song and Doggerel Woven and

Warped in Cadenced Mystery .............................................. 405

Riley's Primary Audience ........................................................ 421

Riley Family Poetry ................................................................. 427

Longfellow and Other Poets Who Influenced Riley ................. 429

Special Inspirational Poems .................................................................... .448

Poetry of the "Deer Crick" or "Delphi" Epoch........................... 467

...Squeers III

SQUEERS - THE ANCIENT

0, my Grandfather Squeers took a special delight,
In trimming his corns every Saturday night

With a horn-handled razor, whose edge he excused,
By saying 'twas one that his grandfather used.

And although deeply etched in the haft of the same
Was the ever euphonious Wostenholm's name,
'Twas my grandfather's custom to boast of the blade
As "the very best razor that Seth Thomas made!"

(from Kokomo TRIBUNE May 29, 1880)

A Poetry for Newspaper Publication                                          474

Books of Poetry ................................................................................................ .493

VI.      Mr. Bryce

A Humorous Man Lecturing Across the Country with a

"Sad Face" Nobody Sees ...................................................... 504

A Newcomer After Flying Islands Selves ................................ 505

A Fresh Start Year on the Public Platform ............................. 506

VII.      Krung

Becoming a "People's Poet" of an Estranged People

As An Act of a Soul-Self ....................................................... 552

A Krung Poem of the Civil War ............................................... 596

The Death of Krung's Mentor, Reuben Riley ......................... 598

...Squeers IV

THE ANTIQUE SQUEERS

My Grandfather Squeers, when retiring at night.
Used always to thoughtfully turn up the light.
In order to see how to blow down the flue
And tell, if it busted, just what it would do.

And then it was melody, when on the ledge

Of the bed he curled up like a shaving on edge,
And snored and snorted, cavorted and pawed
With wakeful revulsions in which he just chawed.

(from Kokomo TRIBUNE June 12, 1880)

VIII. Bud

Riley as a Child Tucked All Inside - The "Children's Poet". ... 620

IX Conclusion ................................................................................ 655

Acknowledgements

Index

Riley's Poetry

Advertising Doggerel ....................................................... 293,411,479

AEO ! AEO ! AEO^{! .....................................................................................................} 363

Almost Beyond Endurance ............................................................ 651

Armazindy ..................................................................................... 596

Away .............................................................................................. 465

Ay,Dwainie! - My Dwainie ............................................................ 175

Beautiful City, The ....................................................................... 463

Bells Jangled ................................................................................. 297

Bereaved ....................................................................................... 466

Boy's Mother, A ............................................................................. 270

Brook-Song, The ........................................................................... 452

Chamber Over the Gate, The ....................................................... 337

Charles H. Philips ......................................................................... 236

Clover, The .................................................................................... 460

Craqueodoom ............................................................................... 11 1

Cristillomeem's Story in a Chorus of Swarming Faces .............. 263

Das Krist Kindel ............................................................................ 656

Dead In Sight of Fame .................................................................. 583

Death ............................................................................................. 315

Decoration Day on the Place ........................................................ 546

Diners in the Kitchen .................................................................. 649

Dot Leedle Boy ............................................................................... 514

"Dream" ......................................................................................... 215

Dream, A ....................................................................................... 346

Name of Old Glory, The ............................................................ 604

Nine Little Goblins, The ............................................................. 646

No Boy Knows ............................................................................ 165

Nonsense Rhyme, A ................................................................... 644

Nothin' To Say ............................................................................ 461

Old Band, The ............................................................................. 208

Old Fashioned Roses .................................................................. 380

0-1d Man and Jim, The .............................................................. 537

Old Sweetheart of Mine, An ..................................................... 191

Old Swimmin'-Hole, The ............................................................ 389

On Quitting California. ............................................................... 261

On the Banks o' Deer Crick....................................................... 468

On the Death of Little Mahala Ashcraft .................................. 398

On the Love of an Intoxicating Queen ..................................... 594

Only a Dream .............................................................................. 180

Our Kind of Man ........................................................................ 402

Out to Old Aunt Mary's................................................................ 91

Peace-Hymn of the Republic, A ............................................... 601

Phantom, A .................................................................................. 625

The Poet and the Children - At the Grave of Longfellow ...... 434

Poet's Wooing, A ........................................................................ 291

PrayerPerfect ............................................................................. 660

Raggedy Man, The ..................................................................... 228

"Rain, The". ................................................................................. 440

Restoration of Krung, The ......................................................... 585

Rumor's Flutter ........................................................................... 331

Same Old Story, The .................................................................. 416

Silent Victors, The ...................................................................... 579

Since My Mother Died ............................................................... 200

Singer, The .................................................................................. 331

Song ............................................................................................. 500

Spraivoll as the Answer to a Riddle ......................................... 382

That-Air Young-Un .................................................................... 636

That "Airy" Penalty .................................................................... 307

This Thick Distress of Mine. ..................................................... 330

Thoughts Fer The Discuraged Farmer ..................................... 450

Tired ............................................................................................. 491

'Tis My Heart .............................................................................. 496

To H.S.T ...................................................................................... 238

To Leonainie ................................................................................ 153

To My Old Friend, William Leachman .......................................... 4

To Rudyard Kipling ..................................................................... 624

Torn Johnson's Quit .................................................................... 342

Twintorette .................................................................................. 181

Unexpected Result, An ............................................................... 477

We Must Get Home .................................................................... 385

What Smith Knew About Farming ............................................. 105

When the Frost Is On the Punkin' ............................................. 396

Who is Spraivoll Unless Cadenced Mystery^{? .....................................} 410

When the World Bu'sts Through ............................................... 648

Wraith-Song of Spraivoll ............................................................ 327

Wrangdillion ................................................................................. 349

Riley's Prose

Bear Story, The ........................................................................... 639

Enemy With Grandma, An .......................................................... 561

I Was Thirty One Years Old Last Spring ................................. 529

Little Red Riding Hood ............................................................... 294

Memorial - Nellie M. Cooley ..................................................... 324

Object Lesson, The ..................................................................... 159

Old Soldier's Story, The ............................................................. 541

Unawangawawa: Or, The Eyelash of the Lightning .................. 70

Use and Abuse of the Poetic Theme ........................................ 334

Miscellaneous (includes selected writings of others about Riley)

Assessment of Riley (James Russell Lowell) .......................... 532
Assorted Youthful Pranks ("The Blind Painter," "The Voice

from the Cellar," "Take Radway's Ready Relief') ..................... 68

Autobiography of James Whitcomb Riley (Bill Nye) .................. 8

"Bear Hunt, The" (Abraham Lincoln) ....................................... 413

"Chamber Over the Gate, The" (Henry W. Longfellow) ....... 331

Charlottesville Trip (Minnie Belle Mitchell) .............................. 74
Christ as the Answer to the Lowly Origin of Man (R.J. Cooke)

...................................................................................................... 379
Crestillomeem Lands Riley in Court After He Signed Promissory

Note While Drunk (Walter Myer) ............................................ 366

"Crucifiction" (Sic) (Reuben Riley) .......................................... 424

"Death of Little Nell" (Charles Dickens) ................................ 101

Expose of a Contemptible Fraud (Theophilus Philips) ........... 139
Forcible Hanging of a Negro Man, The (Hancock DEMOCRAT) . .

....................................................................................................... 311

Golden Age of Hoosier Literature, The ................................... 498
Growth of American Business Likened to an American Beauty

Rose, The (John D. Rockefeller) ............................................. 381

"Hail Columbia" (anonymous) ................................................... 413

Harvest Days of the Olden Times, The" (Lee 0. Harris) ...... 627

"He Cared Only For Poetry" (William Lyon Phelps) .............. 631

"Hoosier Nest" (John Finley) .................................................... 421

Impression of James Whitcomb Riley, An (Rhoda Millikan) . 184
"...In His Teens When The Millikan Family Came From the

East." (Minnie Belle Mitchell) .................................................. 328

Introduction to Nye and Riley (Mark Twain) .......................... 534

"James Whitcomb Riley" (Edgar Allen Guest) ........................ 617

"Johnny Kongapod" (Doggerel) ................................................ 408

Jucklet's Last Trick (Harry New) ............................................ 167

Judge Lynch (Indianapolis JOURNAL) ................................... 308

Letter from Nellie Cooley ......................................................... 172

Letter from Nellie Cooley's husband, George ......................... 195
Life Path for a Depressed Friend (The Story of Anna

Chittenden) ................................................................................. 352

Mexican War "Hoosier" Regimental Battle Song ................... 417

"Paddle Your Own Canoe" (Sarah Boulton) ........................... 423
Posthumous Poetry (Leonainie Hoax News Release)(Oscar

Henderson) ................................................................................. 120
Poetry Echoing Nature With Her Own Voice, A (Donald Culross

Peattie) ........................................................................................ 446

Poet's Side of It, The (Riley's Breakup with Nye)(Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL)            

356

Proclamation of Riley Day, Sept. 8, 1915 (Samuel Ralston,

Governor of Indiana) .................................................................. 613

Resignation as a Civil War Officer (Reuben Riley) ............... 567

Return from Boston Crowned With Laurels (Hancock DEMOC‑

RAT) ............................................................................................ 526

Riley and His Old Sweetheart of Mine, Crestillomeem

After He Moved to Lockerbie St. to Live with Holsteins

(Walter Myer) ............................................................................. 365

Riley in the Nation's Heart ........................................................ 654

Riley and Longfellow (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana) .             430

Riley and Palmistry .................................................................... 633

Riley and "Raggedy Ann" - America's Most Enduring Doll

(Dorothy June Williams) ............................................................ 652

Riley Day Proclamation Oct. 7, 1949 (Henry Schrieker,

Governor of Indiana) .................................................................. 637

Riley Entertainment of 1880 ...................................................... 524

Riley Gets Drunk At a Hotel Party in Florida in the Last

Months of His Life (Dr. Carleton McCulloch) ........................ 371

Riley's Style of Friendship (George Ade) ................................ 245

Riley Playing Deaf (Major James Pond) .................................. 544

Riley with Other Spirits ............................................................. 247

Riley's Depression and Alcoholism as Affecting His Creativity

....................................................................................................... 373

"Song of the Rain" (Lee 0. Harris) .......................................... 439

Speech for the National Greenback Party (Reuben Riley) .... 570

Sudden Death (the death of Riley's Mother)(Hancock DEMOCRAT)

....................................................................................................... 269

Talent as a Reader (Meredith Nicholson) ................................ 536

"Temperance Crusade, The" (Elizabeth Wills) ........................ 283

"Thus the Farmer Sews His Seed" (anonymous) ..................... 412

"To J.W.R." (Rudyard Kipling) ................................................. 623

Visit to Riley in his Native Town, A (Hamlin Garland) .......... 418

"Weevily Wheat" (anonymous) .................................................. 412

Word (On the Hiring of Riley by the Anderson DEMOCRAT)            482