The Book of Joyous Children

Project Gutenberg's The Book of Joyous Children, by James Whitcomb Riley
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Title: The Book of Joyous Children
Author: James Whitcomb Riley
Illustrator: J. W. Vawter
Release Date: May 16, 2005 [EBook #15834]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN
[Illustration]
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
[Illustration]
THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
Illustrated by
J.W. VAWTER
NEW YORK?CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS?1902
Copyright, 1902, by?JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY?ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published October, 1902
THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN
[Illustration: "NOT IN CLASSIC LORE, BUT RICH IN THE CHILD-SAGAS OF THE KITCHEN."]
GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY?INSCRIBED?TO?JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS

You who to the rounded prime?Of a life of toil and stress,?Still have kept the morning-time
Of glad youth in heart and spirit,?So your laugh, as children hear it,?Seems their own, no less,--?Take this book of childish rhyme--
The Book of Joyous Children.
Their first happiness on earth?Here is echoed--their first glee:?Rich, in sooth, the volume's worth--
Not in classic lore, but rich in?The child-sagas of the kitchen;--?Therefore, take from me?To your heart of childish mirth
The Book of Joyous Children.

[Illustration]
CONTENTS
PROEM?THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN?AN IMPROMPTU FAIRY-TALE?DREAM-MARCH?ELMER BROWN?NO BOY KNOWS?WHEN WE FIRST PLAYED "SHOW"?A DIVERTED TRAGEDY?THE RAMBO-TREE?FIND THE FAVORITE?THE BOY PATRIOT?EXTREMES?INTELLECTUAL LIMITATIONS?A MASQUE OF THE SEASONS?THOMAS THE PRETENDER?LITTLE DICK AND THE CLOCK?FOOL-YOUNGENSZ?THE KATYDIDS?BILLY AND HIS DRUM?THE NOBLE OLD ELM?THE PENALTY OF GENIUS?EVENSONG?THE TWINS?THE LITTLE LADY?"COMPANY MANNERS"?IN FERVENT PRAISE OF PICNICS?THE GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED PEOPLE?THE BEST TIMES?"HIK-TEE-DIK!"?A CHRISTMAS MEMORY?"OLD BOB WHITE"
A SESSION WITH UNCLE SIDNEY:
I ONE OF HIS ANIMAL STORIES?II UNCLE BRIGHTENS UP?III SINGS A "WINKY-TOODEN" SONG?IV AND MAKES NURSERY RHYMES
1 THE DINERS IN THE KITCHEN?2 THE IMPERIOUS ANGLER?3 THE GATHERING OF THE CLANS?4 "IT"?5 THE DARING PRINCE
A DUBIOUS "OLD KRISS"?A SONG OF SINGING?THE JAYBIRD?A BEAR FAMILY
SOME SONGS AFTER MASTER-SINGERS:
I SONG?II TO THE CHILD JULIA?III THE DOLLY'S MOTHER?IV WIND OF THE SEA?V SUBTLETY?VI BORN TO THE PURPLE
OLD MAN WHISKERY-WHEE-KUM-WHEEZE?LITTLE-GIRL-TWO-LITTLE-GIRLS?A GUSTATORY ACHIEVEMENT?CLIMATIC SORCERY?A PARENT REPRIMANDED?THE TREASURE OF THE WISE MAN
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FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
NOT IN CLASSIC LOOK, BUT RICH IN THE CHILD-SAGAS OF THE KITCHEN KNEEL, ALL GLOWING, TO THE COOL SPRING?NO BOY KNOWS WHEN HE GOES TO SLEEP?JAMESY ON THE SLACK-ROPE?ACROSS THE ORCHARD?WHILE ALL THE ARMY, FOLLOWING, IN CHORUS CHEERS AND SINGS WHERE IT GOES WHEN THE FIRE GOES OUT??THE FAIRY QUEEN OF THE SEASONS?PORE PA! PORE PA!?SQUINT' OUR EYES AN' LAUGH' AGAIN?HE'S A-MARCHIN' ROUND THE ROOM?THE OLD TREE SAYS HE'S ALL OUR TREE?THEREFORE READ NO LONGER?SHE'S BUT A RACING SCHOOL-GIRL?THEY WAS GOD'S PEOPLE?THEM WUZ THE BEST TIMES EVER WUZ?HE'S GO' HITCH UP, CHRIS'MUS-DAY, AN' COME TAKE ME BACK AGAIN WHEN WE DROVE TO HARMONY?A BIG, HOLLOW, OLD OAK-TREE, WHICH HAD BEEN BLOWN DOWN BY A STORM THE YOUNG FOXES IN IT, ON THE HEARTH BESIDE HER?AN' ALL BE POETS AN' ALL RECITE?ALONG THE BRINK OF WILD BROOK-WAYS?I LIKE TO WATCH HIM?WHILE KATE PICKS BY, YET LOOKS NOT THERE?LEND ME THE BREATH OF A FRESHENING GALE?BOW TO ME IN THE WINDER THERE?OUR "OLD-KRISS"-MILKMAN?THE CHILDISH DREAMS IN HIS WISE OLD HEAD

THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN
Bound and bordered in leaf-green,?Edged with trellised buds and flowers?And glad Summer-gold, with clean
White and purple morning-glories?Such as suit the songs and stories?Of this book of ours,?Unrevised in text or scene,--
The Book of Joyous Children.
Wild and breathless in their glee--?Lawless rangers of all ways?Winding through lush greenery
Of Elysian vales--the viny,?Bowery groves of shady, shiny?Haunts of childish days.?Spread and read again with me
The Book of Joyous Children.
What a whir of wings, and what?Sudden drench of dews upon?The young brows, wreathed, all unsought,
With the apple-blossom garlands?Of the poets of those far lands?Whence all dreams are drawn?Set herein and soiling not
The Book of Joyous Children.
In their blithe companionship?Taste again, these pages through,?The hot honey on your lip
Of the sun-smit wild strawberry,?Or the chill tart of the cherry;?Kneel, all glowing, to?The cool spring, and with it sip
The Book of Joyous Children.
As their laughter needs no rule,?So accept their language, pray.--?Touch it not with any tool:
Surely we may understand it,--?As the heart has parsed or scanned it?Is a worthy way,?Though found not in any School
The Book of Joyous Children.
[Illustration: "KNEEL, ALL GLOWING, TO THE COOL SPRING."]
Be a truant--know no place?Of prison under heaven's rim!?Front the Father's smiling face--
Smiling, that you smile the brighter?For the heavy hearts made lighter,?Since you smile with Him.?Take--and thank Him for His grace--
The Book of Joyous Children.

AN IMPROMPTU FAIRY-TALE
[Illustration]
When I wuz ist a little bit
o' weenty-teenty kid?I maked up a Fairy-tale,
all by myse'f, I did:--
I
Wunst upon a time wunst?They wuz a Fairy King,?An' ever'thing he have wuz gold--,?His clo'es, an' ever'thing!?An' all the other Fairies?In his goldun Palace-hall?Had to hump an' hustle--?'Cause he wuz bosst of all!
II
He have a goldun trumput,?An' when he blow' on that,?It's a sign