The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley in ten volumes |
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THE OLD, OLD WISH |
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 | The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley |  |
613
THE OLD, OLD WISH
Last night, in some lost mood of meditation,
The while my dreamy vision ranged the far
Unfathomable arches of creation,
I saw a falling star:
The while my dreamy vision ranged the far
Unfathomable arches of creation,
I saw a falling star:
And as my eyes swept round the path it embered
With the swift-dying glory of its glow,
With sudden intuition I remembered
A wish of long ago—
With the swift-dying glory of its glow,
With sudden intuition I remembered
A wish of long ago—
A wish that, were it made—so ran the fancy
Of credulous young lover and of lass—
As fell a star, by some strange necromancy,
Would surely come to pass.
Of credulous young lover and of lass—
As fell a star, by some strange necromancy,
Would surely come to pass.
And, of itself, the wish, reiterated
A thousand times in youth, flashed o'er my brain,
And, like the star, as soon obliterated,
Dropped into night again.
A thousand times in youth, flashed o'er my brain,
And, like the star, as soon obliterated,
Dropped into night again.
614
For my old heart had wished for the unending
Devotion of a little maid of nine—
And that the girl-heart, with the woman's blending,
Might be forever mine.
Devotion of a little maid of nine—
And that the girl-heart, with the woman's blending,
Might be forever mine.
And so it was, with eyelids raised, and weighty
With ripest clusterings of sorrow's dew,
I cried aloud through Heaven: “O little Katie!
When will my wish come true?”
With ripest clusterings of sorrow's dew,
I cried aloud through Heaven: “O little Katie!
When will my wish come true?”
| The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley | |