Mythology & Folklore

Pan

by James Whitcomb Riley 1849–1916

From Afterwhiles (1887)

Mythology & Folklore

This Pan is but an idle god, I guess,
Since all the fair midsummer of my dreams
He loiters listlessly by woody streams,
Soaking the lush glooms up with laziness;
Or drowsing while the maiden-winds caress
Him prankishly, and powder him with gleams
Of sifted sunshine. And he ever seems
Drugged with a joy unutterable-- unless
His low pipes whistle hints of it far out
Across the ripples to the dragon-fly
That like a wind-born blossom blown about,
Drops quiveringly down, as though to die--
Then lifts and wavers on, as if in doubt
Whether to fan his wings or fly without.

MLA

Riley, James Whitcomb. “Pan.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/227/.

Chicago

Riley, James Whitcomb. “Pan.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/227/.

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