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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WHEN SHE COMES HOME by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN SHE COMES HOME AGAIN! A THOUSAND WAYS
Last Line: AGAIN IS HIDDEN IN THE OLD EMBRACE.
Subject(s): HOME; KISSES; LOVE; TEARS;

WHEN she comes home again! A thousand ways
I fashion, to myself, the tenderness
Of my glad welcome: I shall tremble --
yes;
And touch her, as when first in the old days
I touched her girlish hand, nor dared upraise
Mine eyes, such was my faint heart's sweet distress.
Then silence: and the perfume of her dress:
The room will sway a little, and a haze
Cloy eyesight -- soulsight, even -- for a space;
And tears -- yes; and the ache here in the throat;
To know that I so ill deserve the place
Her arms make for me; and the sobbing note
I stay with kisses, ere the tearful face
Again is hidden in the old embrace.



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