To James Whitcomb Riley
Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)
On his "Book of Joyous Children"
Yours is a garden of old-fashioned flowers;
Joyous children delight to play there;
Weary men find rest in its bowers,
Watching the lingering light of day there.
Old-time tunes and young love's laughter
Ripple and run among the roses;
Memory's echoes, murmuring after,
Fill the dusk when the long day closes.
Simple songs with a cadence olden--
These you learned in the Forest of Arden:
Friendly flowers with hearts all golden--
These you borrowed from Eden's garden.
This is the reason why all men love you;
Truth to life is the charm of art:
Other poets may soar above you--
You keep close to the human heart.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 76 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | A BCBC DEDE AAAA FGFG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 635 |
Words | 115 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"To James Whitcomb Riley" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/18401/to-james-whitcomb-riley>.
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