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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A BAREFOOT BOY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: A barefoot boy! I mark him at
Last Line: Like unto the clasp of an old pocketbook.
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Brooks; Children; Youth; Streams; Creeks; Childhood
First Line: A barefoot boy! I mark him at
Last Line: Like unto the clasp of an old pocketbook.
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Brooks; Children; Youth; Streams; Creeks; Childhood
A BAREFOOT boy! I mark him at his play --
For May is here once more, and so is he, --
His dusty trousers, rolled half to the knee,
And his bare ankles grimy, too, as they:
Cross-hatchings of the nettle, in array
Of feverish stripes, hint vividly to me
Of woody pathways winding endlessly
Along the creek, where even yesterday
He plunged his shrinking body -- gasped and shook --
Yet called the water "warm," with never lack
Of joy. And so, half enviously I look
Upon this graceless barefoot and his track, --
His toe stubbed -- ay, his big toe-nail knocked back
Like unto the clasp of an old pocketbook.
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