Company Manners

When Bess gave her Dollies a Tea, said she, -
"It's unpolite, when they's Company,
To say you've drinked two cups, you see, -
But say you've drinked a couple of tea."

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. He was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and the "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and children's poetry respectively. Over his career, Riley authored approximately 1,000 poems, including "Little Orphant Annie" and "The Raggedy Man". His influence extended into the 20th century, and his works continued to be celebrated for their nostalgic and rural themes.

James Whitcomb Riley

If I knew What Poets Know

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

The Old Man And Jim

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

June

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

A Delicious Interruption

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

A Cup Of Tea.

    I have sipped, with drooping lashes,
        Dreamy draughts of Verzenay;
    I have flourished brandy-smashes
        In the wildest sort of way;
    I have joked with "Tom and Jerry"
        Till wee hours ayont the twal' -
    But I've found my tea the very
        Safest tipple of them all!

    'Tis a mystical potation
        That exceeds in warmth of glow
    And divine exhilaration
        All the drugs of long ago -
    All of old magicians' potions -
        Of Medea's filtered spells -
    Or of fabled isles and oceans
        Where the Lotos-eater dwells!

    Though I've reveled o'er late lunches
        With blasé dramatic stars,
    And absorbed their wit and punches
        And the fumes of their cigars -

James Whitcomb Riley

The Daisies.

You very fine Miss Molly,
What will the daisies say,
If you carry home so many
Of their little friends to-day?

Perhaps you take a sister,
Perhaps you take a brother,
Or two little daisies who
Were fond of one another.

Kate Greenaway

The Dolls

"Whenever you dress me dolls, mammy,
Why do you dress them so,
And make them gallant soldiers,
When never a one I know;
And not as gentle ladies
With frills and frocks and curls,
As people dress the dollies
Of other little girls?"

Ah - why did she not answer:-
"Because your mammy's heed
Is always gallant soldiers,
As well may be, indeed.
One of them was your daddy,
His name I must not tell;
He's not the dad who lives here,
But one I love too well."

Thomas Hardy

Cup Of Mixture

For every Guest who comes with him to sup,
The Host compounds a strangely mingled cup;--
Red Wine of Life and Dregs of Bitterness,
And, will-he, nil-he, each must drink it up.

William Arthur Dunkerley (John Oxenham)

Upon Doll. Epig.

Doll, she so soon began the wanton trade,
She ne'er remembers that she was a maid.

Robert Herrick

The Tea Party.

In the pleasant green Garden
We sat down to tea;
"Do you take sugar?" and
"Do you take milk?"
She'd got a new gown on
A smart one of silk.
We all were so happy
As happy could be,
On that bright Summer's day
When she asked us to tea.

Kate Greenaway