Welladay!
Here I lay
You at rest–all worn away,
O my pencil, to the tip
Of our old companionship!
Memory
Sighs to see
What you are, and used to be,
Looking backward to the time
When you wrote your earliest rhyme!–
When I sat
Filing at
Your first point, and dreaming that
Your initial song should be
Worthy of posterity.
With regret
I forget
If the song be living yet,
Yet remember, vaguely now,
It was honest, anyhow.
You have brought
Me a thought–
Truer yet was never taught,–
That the silent song is best,
And the unsung worthiest.
So if I,
When I die,
May as uncomplainingly
Drop aside as now you do,
Write of me, as I of you:–
Here lies one
Who begun
Life a-singing, heard of none;
And he died, satisfied,
With his dead songs by his side.
(James Whitcomb Riley)
More Poetry from James Whitcomb Riley:
James Whitcomb Riley Poems based on Topics: Time, Mind, Life, Friendship, Memory, Thought & Thinking, Pleasure, Honesty & Integrity, Posterity- The Old-Home Folks (James Whitcomb Riley Poems)
- What Chris'mas Fetched The Wigginses (James Whitcomb Riley Poems)
- Squire Hawkins's Story (James Whitcomb Riley Poems)
- Bud's Fairy-Tale (James Whitcomb Riley Poems)
- A Session With Uncle Sidney (James Whitcomb Riley Poems)
- Blind (James Whitcomb Riley Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Life Poems, Mind Poems, Time Poems, Friendship Poems, Thought & Thinking Poems, Pleasure Poems, Memory Poems, Honesty & Integrity Poems, Posterity PoemsBased on Keywords: a-singing, filing, initial, welladay, uncomplainingly