A Good Man

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



I

A good man never dies--
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands, and honest eyes,
If smiles or tears be there:
Who lives for you and me--
Lives for the world he tries
To help--he lives eternally.
A good man never dies.

II

Who lives to bravely take
His share of toil and stress,
And, for his weaker fellows' sake,
Makes every burden less,--
He may, at last, seem worn--
Lie fallen--hands and eyes
Folded--yet, though we mourn and mourn,
A good man never dies.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

27 sec read
847

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbabcacA dedefafA
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 455
Words 90
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8

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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