Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze

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



Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze
Lives 'way up in the leaves o' trees.
An' wunst I slipped up-stairs to play
In Aunty's room, while she 'uz away;
An' I clumbed up in her cushion-chair
An' ist peeked out o' the winder there;
An' there I saw--wite out in the trees--
Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze!

An' Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze
Would bow an' bow, with the leaves in the breeze,
An' waggle his whiskers an' raggledy hair,
An' bow to me in the winder there!
An' I 'd peek out, an' he'd peek in
An' waggle his whiskers an' bow ag'in,
Ist like the leaves'u'd wave in the breeze--
Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze!

An' Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze,
Seem-like, says to me: 'See my bees
A-bringin' my dinner? An' see my cup
O' locus'-blossoms they've plum' filled up?'
An' '_Um-yum, honey!_' wuz last he said,
An' waggled his whiskers an' bowed his head;
An' I yells, 'Gimme some, won't you, please,
Old Man Whiskery-Whee-Kum-Wheeze?'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
101

Quick analysis:

Scheme AabbccaA AaccddaA AaeeffaA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 924
Words 162
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 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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