El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-03


Z The boys usually like THE Old
/ Swimmin' Hole" best, but often men
I toned 'Out to Old Aunt Mays, -
which perhaps has reached their
hearts through its description Of
! good things TO eat. Almost all OF the
1 verses mentioned by his little CORE
/ spondents are in child dialect
Children often favored Riley with
! their own poetic efforts. On one
! birthday they gave him a poetry
/ shower, and marched past his gate,
on LOckerbie street, with their con-
tributions. This came from a little
girl in Portland, Greg; When I
was years old I wrote a poem
viii send it to you / composed It
/ in a few minutes. I started another
but did not finish It" One little boy
wrote a poem which was every
thing that a poem should not be:
q am Il years old, live in the
country, and am not fit for hard
work If you think it is all right 1
viii try and be q poet"
James Popcorn Riley
To little Elizabeth Page. who wrote
about a beautiful collie pup honored
with the name Of James Whitcomb
Riley Page" the poet replied:
Dear Elizabeth Page: You have sent
me a mighty good letter, and I thank
you heartily. I receive a great num-
Der OF letters mostly written by
grown-up people. and it IS really sur
prising how uninteresting they can be.
Give me a letter any time from the
Elizabeth Pages OF this world What
you say in appreciation OF your
Daddy" goes spang to the spot. That
is right, bet on your Daddy" above
all other men, however bright they
shine in the spotlight Of your guber-
material halls. And the dog. James
Whitcomb Riley Page at once romps
into my affections. As you say, you
a
II he is not you viii change his name
to Edgar Allen Poe" I agree with
you. as too dislike Poe so much that
1 am glad he is not here to be en-
barrassed thereby.
Thank you very much also for Xix
ing my books, and always have your
'Daddy'-my friend-to interpret
them 10 you.
By the way, though. you must spell
Allan with an a, as Mr. Poe was very /
touchy on that point.
As ever and always your old friend. 4
JAMES POPCORN RILEY
Sometimes Riley combined art and /
poetry for the amusement Of his
young friends. There has just come /
to light a card, reproduction Of 4
which appears in the December /
Harper's Magazine. on which Riley I
drew. a picture Of a not very at
tractive young woman Beside the Z
picture, in the poets handwriting, is /
this verse:
Our teacher, Miss King.
She's the sweetest thing.
And I'll tell you the reason why
She dresses in light
Lawn, yellow, and white.
And looks ike a custard pie.
Little Glory Ann
This picture and verse were made
for one OF Riley's favorites. the niece
OF his lifelong friend. Miss Edith
NJ Thomas, the poet. Riley con-
tinued TO exchange letters with the
little girl for years, calling her ''Dory
Ann" after an old-fashioned name
from the memories Of his childhood.
One Of his letters to "Dory Ann"
a remarkable unpublished
poem by Riley. The letter and poem
follow:
Dear Little Frieud-One time an
Did rniddle-aged mana very middle
aged man-who from his childhood
had been playing that he was a poet
got some sure-enough books OF
poetry pieces printed, at last. and
5prlnkled them over his friends like
salt on cantaloupes: and then leaned
back and waited for applause and
laughed TO himself so that he would
not miss any voice OF praise out OF
The best chorus Of the world at large.
is listening still-thOugh. ]