Death & Dying

From the Headboard of a Grave in Paraguay

by James Whitcomb Riley 1849–1916

From Afterwhiles (1887)

Death & Dying

A troth, and a grief, and a blessing,
Disguised them and came this way--,
And one was a promise, and one was a doubt,
And one was a rainy day.

And they met betimes with this maiden,
And the promise it spake and lied,
And the doubt it gibbered and hugged itself,
And the rainy day-- she died.

MLA

Riley, James Whitcomb. “From the Headboard of a Grave in Paraguay.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/218/.

Chicago

Riley, James Whitcomb. “From the Headboard of a Grave in Paraguay.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/218/.

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