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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BY HER WHITE BED by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: BY HER WHITE BED I MUSE A LITTLE
Last Line: "WOULD MUTELY PLEAD: ""NAY, LORD! LET HIM SO SLEEP."
Subject(s): BEDS; FLOWERS; LOVE; NIGHT; ROSES; BEDTIME;

BY her white bed I muse a little space:
She fell asleep -- not very long ago, --
And yet the grass was here and not the snow --
The leaf, the bud, the blossom, and -- her face! --
Midsummer's heaven above us, and the grace
Of Love's own day, from dawn to afterglow;
The fireflies' glimmering, and the sweet and low
Plaint of the whippoorwills, and every place
In thicker twilight for the roses' scent.
Then @3night@1. -- She slept -- in such tranquillity,
I walk atiptoe still, nor @3dare@1 to weep,
Feeling, in all this hush, she rests content --
That though God stood to wake her for me, she
Would mutely plead: "Nay, Lord! Let @3him@1 so sleep."



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