 | The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley |  |
760
HE AND I
Just drifting on together—
He and I—
As through the balmy weather
Of July
Drift two thistle-tufts embedded
Each in each—by zephyrs wedded—
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
He and I—
As through the balmy weather
Of July
Drift two thistle-tufts embedded
Each in each—by zephyrs wedded—
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
And, veering up and onward,
Do we seem
Forever drifting dawnward
In a dream,
Where we meet song-birds that know us,
And the winds their kisses blow us,
While the years flow far below us
Like a stream.
Do we seem
Forever drifting dawnward
In a dream,
Where we meet song-birds that know us,
And the winds their kisses blow us,
While the years flow far below us
Like a stream.
And we are happy—very—
He and I—
Aye, even glad and merry
Though on high
The heavens are sometimes shrouded
By the midnight storm, and clouded
Till the pallid moon is crowded
From the sky.
He and I—
Aye, even glad and merry
Though on high
761
By the midnight storm, and clouded
Till the pallid moon is crowded
From the sky.
My spirit ne'er expresses
Any choice
But to clothe him with caresses
And rejoice;
And as he laughs, it is in
Such a tone the moonbeams glisten
And the stars come out to listen
To his voice.
Any choice
But to clothe him with caresses
And rejoice;
And as he laughs, it is in
Such a tone the moonbeams glisten
And the stars come out to listen
To his voice.
And so, whate'er the weather,
He and I,—
With our lives linked thus together,
Float and fly
As two thistle-tufts embedded
Each in each—by zephyrs wedded—
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
He and I,—
With our lives linked thus together,
Float and fly
As two thistle-tufts embedded
Each in each—by zephyrs wedded—
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
| The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley | |