James Whitcomb Riley

“ When we should live together
in a cozy little cot
Hid in a nest of roses,
with a fairy garden-spot,
Where the vines were ever fruited
and the weather ever fine,
And the birds were ever singing
for that old sweetheart of mine....
When I should be her lover
forever and a day,
And she my faithful sweetheart
till the golden hair was gray;
And we should be so happy
that when either's lips were dumb
They would not smile in Heaven
till the other's kiss had come. ”

“ I find the smiling features of
an old sweetheart of mine.
The lamplight seems to glimmer
with a flicker of surprise,
As I turn it low—to rest me
of the dazzle in my eyes,
And light my pipe in silence,
save a sigh that seems to yoke
Its fate with my tobacco
and to vanish with the smoke.
'Tis a fragrant retrospection,—
for the loving thoughts that start
Into being are like perfume
from the blossom of the heart;
And to dream the old dreams over
is a luxury divine—
When my truant fancies wander
with that old sweetheart of mine. ”

“ O the magic of the Spring!—
With all green boughs to blossom white,
and all bluebirds to sing!
When all the air, to toss and quaff,
made life a jubilee
And changed the children's song and
laugh to shrieks of ecstasy. ”