The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-03-29
JAMES wH1TCoMB RILEY.

JAMES wHITCoMB RILEY.
A poet paused at our door last night,
And tarried awhile to tell
OF days and of dreams that had slipp'd
out of sight
To return at his magical spell.
Not of the lands over far away seas,
Nor of science. nor stranger kings;
Not of the ages of fair Chivalry,
But Just of the dear common things
Dear, because they concern you and me.
For the dawn and the dew and the sun
and the snow.
And death and life and love, that may
All Joy of living. are common, you know,
And Of these were the tales that he told.
And swift as he spoke background
flashed out
OF river and meadow and wild,
Of blossoming trees that he'd sung about
And somewhere beyond it all tinkling out
The laugh of a little child.
And soft as we listened came trooping a
throng--
A world at the Coniurer's call.
They walked straight out of his story and
song
And we knew them one and all
The old, old man and the little fair boy,
The orphan girl and the group at the
farm
They smiled like a CLEAN from the
Heaven of God
And We lcanr to the mystical charm.
A poet paused at our door last night.
There were smiles and tears in our eyes
AS he told of memories slipp'd out OF
sight
TO return as a darling surprise.
III. G. =.
The largest audience which ever, in
Scranton. greeted a man famed for
! literary attainments, crowded the Ly-
ceum last evening to hear James Whit
comb Riley. Not a vacant seat remain
| ed in the pit and balcony. Every box
was occupied and standing room was
| appreciated. 1t was not only Q. great
| house, numerically speaking. but rep
| resented the cream of society and the
! culture of the city. 1t was in many
respects an unusual audience, particu-
| larly since it contained so many elder
! ly people and also many who are al
most never seen at public place.
! The thorough sympathy with the
central figure was shown from the be,
ginning in the gentle indefinable, mur.
mur of satisfaction heard at frequent
intervals. The people left with a smile
of enjoyment on every countenance ant
nothing but the most favorable com
ments concerning the entertainment
We're heard.
Mr. Riley was introduced by Hon
| Il. w. Archibald, presiding Judge o
Lackawanna county, and his readings
were interspersed by one of the fines
musical programmes ever rendered b,
local talent, and made up by Mrs. 10
seph OBrien. Miss katherine Timber
man and Mr.. Williams, Of Wilkes
Barre, accompanied on the piano b!
Miss Florence Richmond.
MIR. RILEY's TRIBUTE.
Mr. Riley paid "a pleasant tribute
to these vocalists last evening wher
he stated that at no place in his touI
had he been favored by such fin'
music. He was particularly pleased
because ladies appeared on the pro
gramnsc. 1t may not be general!
known that he is himself a musician
and does some really wonderful worl
with the guitar.
Judge Archibald introduced the poe
in a most graceful fashion, saying il
part: Were l a public speaker run
ming the nightly gauntlet of introduc
tions, / might agree with Mark Twain
who said he would rather introd'IC
himself as he felt that he alone coul
do the subject full justice. The speak
er of the evening with becoming mod
esty desires that some one else sha
open the door and usher him in. Th
poet OF the people, like Burns, Whit
tier and Whitman, speaks in hi
own tongue the ordinary things OF life
Transforming by his magic toucf
Browning and Tennyson are read b
the few but do not deeply stir tn
popular heart. Mr.. Riley is a poet {
the people. whom the untutored al
preciate as well as the cultured. an
the little children understand and Low
him and hold his childhood rhyme
. as rivaling Mother Goose. His grea
: charm consists in the whole-sOule
cheer that pervades all his writing
! making the world brighter and bette
as appropriately said in his ow
words:
"The world is fun Of roses
The roses full of dew
a The dew is fun of heavens flowers
l That drop for me and you