To Santa Claus
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Most tangible of all the gods that be,
O Santa Claus-- our own since Infancy!
As first we scampered to thee-- now, as then,
Take us as children to thy heart again.
Be wholly good to us, just as of old:
As a pleased father, let thine arms infold
Us, homed within the haven of thy love,
And all the cheer and wholesomeness thereof.
Thou lone reality, when O so long
Life's unrealities have wrought us wrong:
Ambition hath allured us--, fame likewise,
And all that promised honor in men's eyes.
Throughout the world's evasions, wiles, and shifts,
Thou only bidest stable as thy gifts--:
A grateful king re-ruleth from thy lap,
Crowned with a little tinselled soldier-cap:
A mighty general-- a nation's pride--
Thou givest again a rocking-horse to ride,
And wildly glad he groweth as the grim
Old jurist with the drum thou givest him:
The sculptor's chisel, at thy mirth's command,
Is as a whistle in his boyish hand;
The painters model fadeth utterly,
And there thou standest--, and he painteth thee--:
Most like a winter pippin, sound and fine
And tingling-red that ripe old face of thine,
Set in thy frosty beard of cheek and chin
As midst the snows the thaws of spring set in.
Ho! Santa Claus-- our own since Infancy--
Most tangible of all the gods that be--!
As first we scampered to thee-- now, as then,
Take us as children to thy heart again.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 118 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AaBB ccdd eeff gghh iijj kkaa llmm aABB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,322 |
Words | 244 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"To Santa Claus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21154/to-santa-claus>.
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