{"product_id":"the-complete-poetical-works-of-james-whitcomb-riley-hardcover","title":"The Complete Poetical Works Of James Whitcomb Riley - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJames Whitcomb Riley\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eDonald Culross Peattie\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew lives have left so vivid an impression upon a native environment asthat of James Whitcomb Riley, the Hoosier Poet. His folksy, down-home rhymes arestill enormously popular in his native state and beyond. This publication bringsback into print the complete Riley repertoire of more than 1,000 poems, includingsuch all-time favorites as \"Little Orphant Annie\" (far and away thebest-loved of all Riley characters), \"The Raggedy Man,\" \"Our HiredGirl,\" \"A Barefoot Boy,\" \"The Bumblebee,\"\"Granny,\" and \"When the Frost Is on the Punkin.\"\u003cbr\u003e It issaid that Indiana's best-known poet did not portray but invented the typicalHoosier. Applying imaginative skill, Riley altered and adapted the people around himto suit his purpose. As Jeannette Covert Nolan once put it, the figure who emergedwas \"a mellow, humorous rustic, a quaint, bucolic philosopher, unlettered butgifted with an earthy shrewdness, a peasant wisdom, a heart of gold, speaking adrawling, hybrid tongue, a dubious dialect as yet unidentified by anyphilologist.\"\u003cbr\u003e In his heyday Riley was famous all over the world.Though often called a children's poet, he actually wrote about children for adults, delighting in emotional reminders of an irretrievable past -- perhaps one that neverquite existed. Throughout his life Riley looked back wistfully and sentimentallyupon his childhood days, turning the longings and unfulfilled dreams of youth intoverse. So celebrated was he in Indiana that in many public elementary schools, students were required to memorize and recite one of his poems every week foradmiring audiences of visiting parents.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I Knew What PoetsKnow\u003cbr\u003eIf I knew what poets know, Did I know what poets do, If I knew whatpoets know, \u003cbr\u003e Would I write a rhyme Would I sing a song, I would find atheme\u003cbr\u003eOf the buds that never blow Sadder than the pigeon's coo Sweeter thanthe placid flow\u003cbr\u003e In the summer-time? When the days are long? Of the fairestdream: \u003cbr\u003eWould I sing of golden seeds Where I found a heart in pain, I wouldsing of love that lives\u003cbr\u003eSpringing up in ironweeds? I would make it gladagain; On the errors it forgives: \u003cbr\u003eAnd of rain-drop turned to snow, And thefalse should be the true, And the world would better grow\u003cbr\u003eIf I knew whatpoets know? Did I know what poets do. If I knew what poets know.\u003cbr\u003e -- JamesWhitcomb Riley\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis publication brings back into print the complete Riley repertoire of more than 1000 poems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 918\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2.19 x 9.02 x 5.98 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 26, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42124586942599,"sku":"9781258094249","price":110.81,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/a87948878f080f8eac346732b3f94b0b.webp?v=1732571306","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-complete-poetical-works-of-james-whitcomb-riley-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}