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1849–1916

WHEN JUNE IS HERE.

James Whitcomb Riley

When June is here — what art have we to sing The whiteness of the lilies midst the green Of noon-tranced lawns? Or flash of roses seen Like redbirds’ wings? Or earliest ripening

Prince-Harvest apples, where the cloyed bees cling Round winey juices oozing down between The peckings of the robin, while we lean In under-grasses, lost in marveling.

Or the cool term of morning, and the stir Of odorous breaths from wood and meadow walks, The bobwhite's liquid yodel, and the whir Of sudden flight; and, where the milkmaid talks

Across the bars, on tilted barley-stalks The dewdrops’ glint in webs of gossamer.

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WHEN JUNE IS HERE. · James Whitcomb Riley · Poetry Cove