Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. RILEY FARM-RHYMES By James Whitcomb Riley Inscribed with all Grateful Esteem TO THE GOOD OLD-FASHIONED PEOPLE The deadnin' and the thicket's jes' a b'ilin' full o' June, From the rattle o' the cricket, to the yaller-hammer's tune; And the catbird in the bottom and the sap-suck on the snag, Seems's ef they cain't--od-rot-'em!--jes' do nothin' else but brag! There' music in the twitter o' the bluebird and the jay, And that sassy little critter jes' a-peckin' all the day; There' music in the "flicker," and there' music in the thrush, And there' music in the snicker o' the chipmunk in the brush!-- There' music all around me!--And I go back--in a dream Sweeter yit than ever found me fast asleep:--And, in the stream That used to split the medder wher' the dandylions growed, I stand knee-deep, and redder than the sunset down the road. CONTENTS BROOK SONG, THE CANARY AT THE FARM, A CLOVER, THE COUNTRY PATHWAY, A GRIGGSBY'S STATION HOW JOHN QUIT THE FARM JUNE KNEE-DEEP IN JUNE "MYLO JONES'S WIFE" OLD-FASHIONED ROSES OLD MAN'S NURSERY RHYME OLD OCTOBER OLD WINTERS ON THE FARM ORCHARD LANDS OF LONG AGO, THE ROMANCIN' SEPTEMBER DARK SONG OF LONG AGO, A TALE OF THE AIRLY DAYS, A THOUGHTS FER THE DISCURAGED FARMER TREE-TOAD, THE UP AND DOWN OLD BRANDYWINE WET-WEATHER TALK WHEN EARLY MARCH SEEMS MIDDLE MAY WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN WHEN THE GREEN GITS BACK IN THE TREES WHERE THE CHILDREN USED TO PLAY WORTERMELON TIME RILEY FARM-RHYMES THE ORCHARD LANDS OF LONG AGO The orchard lands of Long Ago! O drowsy winds, awake, and blow The snowy blossoms back to me, And all the buds that used to be! Blow back along the grassy ways Of truant feet, and lift the haze Of happy summer from the trees That trail their tresses in the seas Of grain that float and overflow The orchard lands of Long Ago! Blow back the melody that slips In lazy laughter from the lips That marvel much if any kiss Is sweeter than the apple's is. Blow back the twitter of the birds-- The lisp, the titter, and the words Of merriment that found the shine Of summer-time a glorious wine That drenched the leaves that loved it so, In orchard lands of Long Ago! O memory! alight and sing Where rosy-bellied pippins cling, And golden russets glint and gleam, As, in the old Arabian dream, The fruits of that enchanted tree The glad Aladdin robbed for me! And, drowsy winds, awake and fan My blood as when it overran A heart ripe as the apples grow In orchard lands of Long Ago!