RILEY FARM-RHYMES

     The deadnin' and the thicket's jes' a b'ilin' full o' June,
     From the rattle o' the cricket, to the yaller-hammer's tune;
     And the catbird in the bottom and the sap-suck on the
         snag,
     Seems's ef they cain't—od-rot-'em!—jes' do nothin' else
         but brag!

     There' music in the twitter o' the bluebird and the jay,
     And that sassy little critter jes' a-peckin' all the day;
     There' music in the "flicker," and there' music in the
         thrush,
     And there' music in the snicker o' the chipmunk in the
         brush!—

     There' music all around me!—And I go back—in a dream
     Sweeter yit than ever found me fast asleep:—And, in the
          stream
     That used to split the medder wher' the dandylions
         growed,
     I stand knee-deep, and redder than the sunset down the
         road.