Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1916-09-12


be his soul by certain shifting and staring of his
eyes he is pitied whose mental gearing
has sand in it.
Bliss Carman, former editor of the Independent
and a poet of note of James Whitcomb
RiIey's closest friends. After the Indiana
sOngsters death on July o. Carman told much
about Riley to Mr.. Joyce Kilmer of the New York
Times Magazine and Mr.. Kilmer in turn told it
to the public.
Some 30 years ago Carman introduced to
the already famous HOoser Riley's keen bird
like eyes surveyed the tall frame of the new and
young acquaintance: Gosh you're q stalwart
amt ye?" he remarked grinning 81 guess your
parents must have trained you on a trellis"
Then, reported by Mr.. Kilmer, Carman went
on to say
THE next time 1 saw Riley was in Philadelphia.
l went to read before the Browning society, and
l don't mind telling you that I was scared to
death. When I got out all alone the stage and
saw thousand people staring up at me / felt
more like running away than doing anything else
But when l Riley down in the audience
looking at me in his quaint, friendly way, then
l felt all right. l wasn't afraid to read my
poetry to Riley.
after the reading Riley tucked
under his arm and said: Now, let's get around
to the hotel and We'll take off shoes and
get a chew of tobacco and be comfortable
you know, such remarks this all the
piQUant because Riley very pune
tilious and scrupulous in all his personal habits
He always Immediately dressed. l never
knew him even to make so much of a conces
sion to comfort to put a smoking jacket
a lounge coat. But he liked to go to his
and stretch himself on his bed and talk. And
he never talked about anything but literature,
chiefly poetry.
Riley had a great fund Of knowledge of
poetry ard knew lots of out-of-the-way homely
verse He delighted particularly in rdiculously
bad newspaper verse.
"Riley liked to read poetry aloud. When went
to his house of an evening, he generally wait
ing for me with some favorte book, ready to
read aloud"
What sort of poetry did he preferT'
His tastes covered a wide range. Two poets
to whom he was especially devoted were Long
fellow and Swinburne.
Riley liked Longfellow's directness and SIM
pcity. The things that pleased him in Swim
burne's work the music and the deft crafts
manshp.
after Riley had received his degrees from
some of the colleges, he seemed to feel that he
ought to be known a poet, rather than as a
humOrst and writer of dialect verse. He tried
hard to live up to the name of poet, and wanted
his nonsense rhymes of his vagabOndage forgot
ten Yet his vernacular verse, Or he called it,
his dialect verse, was his chief contribution to
literature.
"Riley just poet. That all he ever
cared 20 be- He was not interested in anything
but poetry. He knew nothing of pOlitics-he had
not voted for 80 years. And for philosophy,
he had nothing but contempt for the modern
thinkers.
There something very pathetic and charm
ing about Riley's tenacity in holding the serious
poet pose. His nonsense was just one of his ways
of writing which happened to prove popular;
when he got chance to write in another way
how eagerly he seized 1t, and how persstently he
chung to it!
His last years the happiest of his life
think. He had his and rode around
Indianapolis and its suburbs every day, generally
taking with him some friend. He was hOnored
and loved and 1 think he felt that life had been
good TO him.
"RileyS father a lawyer. His grandfather
came to Indiana from Pennsylvania. His grand
mother on his mothers side Pennsylvania
Dutch. His father was Irish.
Riley had many prejudceS. He disliked Poe
very much. He dsliked POe's character so much
that he could hardly read his poetry. OF course
he must have liked Poes music and splendid
metrical effects
"Of course. you know the story of Riley's ia
nous imitation of Poe? He had taken a position
on the staff of an Anderson. Ind, paper, and the
editor of a rival paper kept ridiculing him. Riley