Riley Child-Rhymes | Page 4

trimmed the wick an' turned it higher, An' fetched
the wood all in fer night, an' locked the kitchen door, An' stuffed the ole
crack where the wind blows in up through the floor-- She sets the kittle
on the coals, an' biles an' makes the tea, An' fries the liver an' the mush,
an' cooks a egg fer me;
An' sometimes--when I cough so hard--her
elderberry wine
Don't go so bad fer little boys with "Curv'ture of the
Spine!"
[Illustration: An' cooks a' egg fer me]
But Aunty's all so childish-like on my account, you see,
I'm 'most
afeard she'll be took down--an' 'at's what bothers me!-- 'Cause ef my
good old Aunty ever would git sick an' die,
I don't know what she'd
do in heaven--till _I_ come, by an' by:-- Fer she's so ust to all my ways,
an' ever'thing, you know,
An' no one there like me, to nuss an' worry
over so!--
'Cause all the little childerns there's so straight an' strong
an' fine, They's nary angel 'bout the place with "Curv'ture of the Spine!"
[Illustration: The Happy Little Cripple--Tailpiece]
THE RIDER OF THE KNEE
Knightly Rider of the Knee
Of Proud-prancing Unclery!
Gaily
mount, and wave the sign
Of that mastery of thine.
Pat thy steed and turn him free,
Knightly Rider of the Knee!
Sit thy
charger as a throne--
Lash him with thy 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]