Riley Child-Rhymes | Page 4

laugh alone:
Sting him only with the spur?Of such wit as may occur,?Knightly Rider of the Knee,?In thy shriek of ecstasy.
Would, as now, we might endure,?Twain as one--thou miniature?Ruler, at the rein of me--?Knightly Rider of the Knee!
[Illustration: The Rider of the Knee]
DOWN AROUND THE RIVER
[Illustration: Down Around the River--Title]
Noon-time an' June-time, down around the river!?Have to furse with 'Lizey Ann--but lawzy! I fergive her!?Drives me off the place, an' says 'at all 'at she's a-wishin', Land o' gracious! time'll come I'll git enough o' fishin'!?Little Dave, a-choppin' wood, never 'pears to notice;?Don't know where she's hid his hat, er keerin' where his coat is,-- Specalatin', more'n like, he haint a-goin' to mind me,?An' guessin' where, say twelve o'clock, a feller'd likely find me!
Noon-time an' June-time, down around the river!?Clean out o' sight o' home, an' skulkin' under kivver?Of the sycamores, jack-oaks, an' swamp-ash an' ellum--?Idies all so jumbled up, you kin hardly tell 'em!--?Tired_, you know, but _lovin' it, an' smilin' jes' to think 'at Any sweeter_ tiredness you'd fairly want to _drink it!?Tired o' fishin'--tired o' fun--line out slack an' slacker-- All you want in all the world's a little more tobacker!
Hungry, but a-hidin' it, er jes' a-not a-keerin':--?Kingfisher gittin' up an' skootin' out o' hearin';?Snipes on the t'other side, where the County Ditch is,?Wadin' up an' down the aidge like they'd rolled their britches! Old turkle on the root kindo-sorto drappin'?Intoo th' worter like he don't know how it happen!?Worter, shade an' all so mixed, don't know which you'd orter Say; th' worter_ in the shadder--_shadder_ in the _worter!
Somebody hollerin'--'way around the bend in?Upper Fork--where yer eye kin jes' ketch the endin'?Of the shiney wedge o' wake some muss-rat's a-makin'?With that pesky nose o' his! Then a sniff o' bacon,?Corn-bred an' 'dock-greens--an' little Dave a-shinnin'?'Crost the rocks an' mussel-shells, a-limpin' an' a-grinnin', With yer dinner fer ye, an' a blessin' from the giver,?Noon-time an' June-time down around the river!
[Illustration: Noon-time and June-time down around the river]
[Illustration: Down Around The River--Tailpiece]
AT AUNTY'S HOUSE
[Illustration: At Aunty's House--Title]
One time, when we'z at Aunty's house--?'Way in the country!--where?They's ist but woods--an' pigs, an' cows--?An' all's out-doors an' air!--?An' orchurd-swing; an' churry-trees--?An' churries in 'em!--Yes, an' these--?Here red-head birds steals all they please,?An' tetch 'em ef you dare!--?W'y, wunst, one time, when we wuz there,?We et out on the porch!
[Illustration: We et out on the porch]
Wite where the cellar-door wuz shut?The table wuz; an' I?Let Aunty set by me an' cut?My vittuls up--an' pie.?'Tuz awful funny!--I could see?The red-heads in the churry-tree;?An' bee-hives, where you got to be?So keerful, goin' by;--?An' "Comp'ny" there an' all!--an' we--?We et out on the porch!
An' I ist et p'surves an' things?'At Ma don't 'low me to--?An' chickun-gizzurds--(don't like wings?Like Parunts_ does! do _you?)?An' all the time, the wind blowed there,?An' I could feel it in my hair,?An' ist smell clover ever'where!--?An' a' old red-head flew?Purt' nigh wite over my high-chair,?When we et on the porch!
THE DAYS GONE BY
[Illustration: The Days Gone By--Title]
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?As he piped across the meadows sweet as any nightingale;?When the bloom was on the clover, and the blue was in the sky, And my happy heart brimmed over, in the days gone by.
[Illustration: In the orchard]
In the days gone by, when my naked feet were tripped?By the honeysuckle tangles where the water-lilies dipped,?And the ripples of the river lipped the moss along the brink, Where the placid-eyed and lazy-footed cattle came to drink, And the tilting snipe stood fearless of the truant's wayward cry And the splashing of the swimmer, in the days gone by.
O the days gone by! O the days gone by!?The music of the laughing lip, the lustre of the eye;?The childish faith in fairies, and Aladdin's magic ring--?The simple, soul-reposing, glad belief in everything,--?When life was like a story, holding neither sob nor sigh,?In the golden olden glory of the days gone by.
THE BUMBLEBEE
You better not fool with a Bumblebee!--?Ef you don't think they can sting--you'll see!?They're lazy to look at, an' kindo' go?Buzzin' an' bummin' aroun' so slow,?An' ac' so slouchy an' all fagged out,?Danglin' their legs as they drone about?The hollyhawks 'at they can't climb in?'Ithout ist a-tumble-un out agin!?Wunst I watched one climb clean 'way?In a jim'son-blossom, I did, one day,--?An' I ist grabbed it--an' nen let go--?An' "Ooh-ooh! Honey! I told ye so!"?Says The Raggedy Man; an' he ist run?An' pullt out the stinger, an' don't laugh none,?An' says: "They has ben folks, I guess,?'At thought I wuz predjudust, more er less,--?Yit I still muntain 'at a Bumblebee?Wears out his welcome too quick fer me!"
[Illustration: The Bumblebee]
THE BOY LIVES ON OUR FARM
[Illustration: The Boy Lives on Our