A Barefoot Boy

James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)



A barefoot boy! I mark him at his play --
For May is here once more, and so is he, --
His dusty trousers, rolled half to the knee,
And his bare ankles grimy, too, as they:
Cross-hatchings of the nettle, in array
Of feverish stripes, hint vividly to me
Of woody pathways winding endlessly
Along the creek, where even yesterday
He plunged his shrinking body -- gasped and shook --
Yet called the water 'warm,' with never lack
Of joy. And so, half enviously I look
Upon this graceless barefoot and his track, --
His toe stubbed -- ay, his big toe-nail knocked back
Like unto the clasp of an old pocketbook.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
191

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDCDDC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 611
Words 116
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively. more…

All James Whitcomb Riley poems | James Whitcomb Riley Books

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    Who wrote the 1916 poem "Out, Out—"?
    A Robert Frost
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    D Elinor Frost