Out Of Nazareth.

    "He shall sleep unscathed of thieves
    Who loves Allah and believes."
    Thus heard one who shared the tent,
    In the far-off Orient,
    Of the Bedouin ben Ahrzz -
    Nobler never loved the stars
    Through the palm-leaves nigh the dim
    Dawn his courser neighed to him!

    He said: "Let the sands be swarmed
        With such thieves as I, and thou
    Shalt at morning rise, unharmed,
        Light as eyelash to the brow
    Of thy camel, amber-eyed,
    Ever munching either side,
    Striding still, with nestled knees,
    Through the midnight's oases.

    "Who can rob thee an thou hast
    More than this that thou hast cast
    At my feet - this dust of gold?
    Simply this and that, all told!
    Hast thou not a treasure of
    Such a thing as men call love?

    "Can the dusky band I lead
    Rob thee of thy daily need
    Of a whiter soul, or steal
    What thy lordly prayers reveal?
    Who could be enriched of thee
    By such hoard of poverty
    As thy niggard hand pretends
    To dole me - thy worst of friends?
        Therefore shouldst thou pause to bless
    One indeed who blesses thee;
        Robbing thee, I dispossess
    But myself. - Pray thou for me!"

    He shall sleep unscathed of thieves
    Who loves Allah and believes.

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

Billy's Alphabetical Animal Show.

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

Over The Eyes Of Gladness

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

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James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

Out Of Reach?

James Whitcomb Riley, Simple Poetry

English

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Out of Nazareth

"He shall sleep unscathed of thieves
Who loves Allah and believes."
Thus heard one who shared the tent,
In the far-off Orient,
Of the Bedouin ben Ahrzz -
Nobler never loved the stars
Through the palm-leaves nigh the dim
Dawn his courser neighed to him!

He said: "Let the sands be swarmed
With such thieves as I, and thou
Shalt at morning rise unharmed,
Light as eyelash to the brow
Of thy camel amber-eyed,
Ever munching either side,
Striding still, with nestled knees,
Through the midnight's oases."

"Who can rob thee an thou hast
More than this that thou hast cast
At my feet - this dust of gold?
Simply this and that, all told!
Hast thou not a treasure of
Such a thing as men call love?"

"Can the dusky band I lead

James Whitcomb Riley

The Two Rabbins

The Rabbi Nathan two-score years and ten
Walked blameless through the evil world, and then,
Just as the almond blossomed in his hair,
Met a temptation all too strong to bear,
And miserably sinned. So, adding not
Falsehood to guilt, he left his seat, and taught
No more among the elders, but went out
From the great congregation girt about
With sackcloth, and with ashes on his head,
Making his gray locks grayer. Long he prayed,
Smiting his breast; then, as the Book he laid
Open before him for the Bath-Col's choice,
Pausing to hear that Daughter of a Voice,
Behold the royal preacher's words: "A friend
Loveth at all times, yea, unto the end;
And for the evil day thy brother lives."
Marvelling, he said: "It is the Lord who gives
Counsel in need. At Ecbatana dwe...

John Greenleaf Whittier

The Treasure Of The Wise Man

O the night was dark and the night was late,
    And the robbers came to rob him;
And they picked the locks of his palace-gate,
    The robbers that came to rob him -
They picked the locks of his palace-gate,
Seized his jewels and gems of state,
His coffers of gold and his priceless plate, -
    The robbers that came to rob him.

But loud laughed he in the morning red! -
    For of what had the robbers robbed him? -
Ho! hidden safe, as he slept in bed,
    When the robbers came to rob him, -
They robbed him not of a golden shred
Of the childish dreams in his wise old head -
"And they're welcome to all things else," he said,
    When the robbers came to rob him.

James Whitcomb Riley

In Memory of John Fairfax

Because this man fulfilled his days,
Like one who walks with steadfast gaze
Averted from forbidden ways
With lures of fair, false flowerage deep,
Behold the Lord whose throne is dim
With fires of flaming seraphim
The Christ that suffered sent for him:
He giveth His beloved sleep.

Think not that souls whose deeds august
Put sin to shame and make men just
Become at last the helpless dust
That wintering winds through waste-lands sweep!
The higher life within us cries,
Like some fine spirit from the skies,
The Fathers blessing on us lies
He giveth His beloved sleep.

Not human sleep the fitful rest
With evil shapes of dreams distressed,
But perfect quiet, unexpressed
By any worldly word we keep.
The dim Hereafter framed in cre...

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The Watches Of The Night.

    O the waiting in the watches of the night!
    In the darkness, desolation, and contrition and affright;
    The awful hush that holds us shut away from all delight:
    The ever weary memory that ever weary goes
    Recounting ever over every aching loss it knows -
    The ever weary eyelids gasping ever for repose -
    In the dreary, weary watches of the night!

    Dark - stifling dark - the watches of the night!
    With tingling nerves at tension, how the blackness flashes white
    With spectral visitations smitten past the inner sight! -
    What shuddering sense of wrongs we've wrought that may not be redressed -
    Of tears we did not brush away - of lips we left unpressed,
    And hands that we let fall, with all their loyalty unguessed!
    Ah! the empt...

James Whitcomb Riley

A Song In The Desert

Friend, thou beholdest the lightning? Who has the charge of it,
To decree which rock-ridge shall receive, shall be chosen for targe of it?
Which crown among palms shall go down, by the thunderbolt broken;
While the floods drown the sere wadis where no bud is token?

First for my eyes, above all, he made show of his treasure.
First in his ear, before all, I made sure of my measure.
If it were good, what acclaim! None other so moved me.
If it were faulty, what shame? While he mocked me he loved me.

Friend, thou hast seen in Ridaar, the low moon descending,
One silent, swart, swift-striding camel, oceanward wending?
Browbound and jawbound the rider, his shadow in front of him,
Ceaselessly eating the distances? That was the wont of him.

Whether the cliff-walled defi...

Rudyard