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A Life-Lesson

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

There! little girl; don't cry!
They have broken your doll, I know;
And your tea-set blue,
And your play-house, too,
Are things of the long ago;
But childish troubles will soon pass by. --
There! little girl; don't cry!

There! little girl; don't cry!
They have broken your slate, I know;
And the glad, wild ways
Of your schoolgirl days
Are things of the long ago;
But life and love will soon come by. --
There! little girl; don't cry!

There! little girl; don't cry!
They have broken your heart I know;
And the rainbow gleams
Of your youthful dreams
Are things of the long ago;
But Heaven holds all for which you sigh. --
There! little girl; don't cry!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

38 sec read
136

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbccBaA AbddBaA AbeeBaA
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 658
Words 122
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7
Full analysis for A Life-Lesson »

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…

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    "A Life-Lesson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/20780/a-life-lesson>.

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