Living

Autographic

by James Whitcomb Riley 1849–1916

From The Old Soldier's Story (1915)

Living

I feel, if aught I ought to rhyme,
I ought 'a' thought a longer time,
And ought 'a' caught a higher sense,
Of autocratic eloquence.
I ought 'a' sought each haughty Muse
That taught a thought I ought to use,
And fought and fraught, and so devised
A poem unmonotonized.--
But since all this was vain, I thought
I ought to simply say,--I ought
To thank you, as I ought to do,
And ought to bow my best to you;
And ought to trust not to intrude
A rudely wrought-up gratitude,
But ought to smile, and ought to laugh,
And ought to write--an autograph.

MLA

Riley, James Whitcomb. “Autographic.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/470/.

Chicago

Riley, James Whitcomb. “Autographic.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/riley/470/.

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