Relationships

O friends of mine, whose kindly words come to me

by James Whitcomb Riley 1849–1916

From Riley Songs of Friendship (1915)

Relationships

O friends of mine, whose kindly words come to me
Voiced only in lost lisps of ink and pen,
If I had power to tell the good you do me,
And how the blood you warm goes laughing through me,
My tongue would babble baby-talk again.

And I would toddle round the world to meet you--
Fall at your feet, and clamber to your knees
And with glad, happy hands would reach and greet you,
And twine my arms about you, and entreat you
For leave to weave a thousand rhymes like these--

A thousand rhymes enwrought of nought but presses
Of cherry-lip and apple-cheek and chin,
And pats of honeyed palms, and rare caresses,
And all the sweets of which as Fancy guesses
She folds away her wings and swoons therein.

MLA

Riley, James Whitcomb. “O friends of mine, whose kindly words come to me.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/262/.

Chicago

Riley, James Whitcomb. “O friends of mine, whose kindly words come to me.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/262/.

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