To a Boy Whistling

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



The smiling face of a happy boy
With its enchanted key
Is now unlocking in memory
My store of heartiest joy.

And my lost life again to-day,
In pleasant colors all aglow,
From rainbow tints, to pure white snow,
Is a panorama sliding away.

The whistled air of a simple tune
Eddies and whirls my thoughts around,
As fairy balloons of thistle-down
Sail through the air of June.

O happy boy with untaught grace!
What is there in the world to give
That can buy one hour of the life you live
Or the trivial cause of your smiling face!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
78

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBA CDDC EXXE FXXF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 520
Words 102
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

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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