Thank you for this gem. Maisie ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 12:02 AM Subject: IRELANDGENWEB Digest, Vol 1, Issue 55 > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. "When The Frost Is On The Punkin" -- James Whitcomb RILEY > (1849-1916) (Jean R.) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 15:00:48 -0800 > From: "Jean R." <[email protected]> > Subject: [IGW] "When The Frost Is On The Punkin" -- James Whitcomb > RILEY (1849-1916) > To: <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN > > When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock, > And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock, > And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens, > And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence; > O, it's then's the time a feller is a feelin' at his best, > With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest, > As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock, > When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shrock. > > They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere > When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here -- > Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees, > And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees; > But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze > Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days > Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock -- > When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. > > The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn, > And the raspin' of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn; > The stubble in the furries -- kindo' lonesome-like but still > A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill; > The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed, > The hosses in theyr stalls below -- the clover over-head! > O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock, > When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. > > Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps > Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps; > And your cider-makin' 's over, and your wimmen-folks is through > With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too! -- > I don't know how to tell it -- but ef sich a thing could be > As the Angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me -- > I'd want to 'commodate 'em -- and the whole-indurin' flock -- > When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. > > -- James Whitcomb RILEY(1849-1916) won fame as the "Hoosier Poet." Riley, > the son of a lawyer, was born 7 Oct. 1849, in Greenfield, IN. He left home > after receiving a grammer-school education, and worked for a time a a sign > painter. He next joined a medicine show a an actor. In his spare time he > composed songs and revised plays for the company. Riley came to know very > well the dialect and the peculiarities of the country folk of Indiana, and > he began to write poems about them. Returning to Greenfield, Riley worked > on the local paper, then on the "Anderson" (IN) Democrat." In 1877, he > joined the "Indianapolis Journal." He began to contribute poems to several > papers under the name "Benj. F. Johnson of Boone." These verses soon made > him famous. He traveled about the country with "Bill" NYE, lecturing and > reading his poems. > > RILEY's remote genealogy is apparently in dispute - reaching back to Cork, > Ireland or, perhaps, to an English RYLAND family > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the IRELANDGENWEB list administrator, send an email to > [email protected] > > To post a message to the IRELANDGENWEB mailing list, send an email to > [email protected] > > __________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] > with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body > of the > email with no additional text. > > > End of IRELANDGENWEB Digest, Vol 1, Issue 55 > ******************************************** >