By Michael Bushnell

Northeast News

December 31, 2014

“Kissing the Rod”

“O heart of mine we shouldn’t worry so,

What we’ve missed of calm we couldn’t have you know,

What we’ve met of stormy pain and of sorrows driving rain,

We can better meet again if it blow.

We have erred in that dark hour we have known,

When our tears fell with the shower all alone,

We’re not shine and shadow bent as the gracious Master meant,

We must temper our content with his own.

For we know not every sorrow can be sad,

So forgetting all the sorrows we have had,

Let us fold away our fears and put by our foolish tears,

And through all the coming years, just be glad.”

James Whitcomb Riley composed those words in 1895 as part of a book titled “The Pipes O Pan At Zekesbury,” dedicated to his brother John A. Riley, “with many memories of the old home.” Born in Greenfield, Ind., on Oct. 7, 1849, James Whitcomb Riley grew to become one of America’s most prolific and most popular poets.

The son of a Yankee lawyer and well-known orator, Riley grew restless in school and was drawn to artistic pursuits such as sign painting and writing of verses. Oft called the “Hoosier Poet” and America’s Children’s’ poet, Riley, through his writings made the Hoosier dialect famous. The popular phrase: “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck” was his.

Riley died in his hometown in 1916. This postcard, part of the Riley Series # 503 c. 1912, was mailed on February 12, 1913, to Miss Leila Williams of Clarinda, Iowa. The message reads: “Dear Leila, We couldn’t find any pretty Valentines. Beulah & Hazel and Ralph are all as busy as bees in school. With Love, Uncle John & Aunt Bertha.”