James Whitcomb Riley
"O what is Life at last," says you,
`At woman-folks and man-folks, too,
Cain't oncomplainin', worry through?
"An' what is Love, `at no one yit
`At's monkeyed with it kin forgit,
Er gits fat on remembern hit?
"An' what is Death?" - W'y, looky hyur -
Ef Life an' Love don't suit you, sir,
Hit's jes' the thing yer lookin' fer!
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was born and raised in Indiana. He would become extraordinarily famous in his day and was often considered the successor to Longfellow. His reputation has somewhat declined since then. He wrote thousands of poems, some of which are far better examples of Gothic poetry than this--his poem, Leonainie, was for a long time misattributed to Edgar Allan Poe. However, we selected this one for its clear use of dialect and its dual interpretation. Depending on the way this is read, it could be considered dark or darkly humorous.
