A HOME-MADE FAIRY TALE
BUD, come here to your Uncle a spell,
And I'll tell you something you mustn't tell--
For it's a secret and shore-nuff true,
And maybe I oughtn't to tell it to you!--
But out in the garden, under the shade
Of the apple-trees where we romped and played
Till the moon was up, and you thought I'd gone
Fast asleep.--That was all put on!
For I was a-watchin' something queer
Goin' on there in the grass, my dear!
'Way down deep in it, there I see
A little dude-Fairy who winked at me,
And snapped his fingers, and laughed as low
And fine as the whine of a mus-kee-to!
I kept still--watchin' him closer-and
I noticed a little guitar in his hand,
Which he leant 'g'inst a little dead bee--and laid
His cigarette down on a clean grass-blade;
And then climbed up on the shell of a snail--
Carefully dusting his swallowtail.
And pulling up, by a waxed web-thread,
This little guitar, you remember, I said!
And there he trinkled and trilled a tune--
"My Love, so Fair, Tans in the Moon!"
Till presently, out of the clover-top
He seemed to be singing to, came k'pop!
The purtiest, daintiest Fairy face
In all this world, or any place!
Then the little ser'nader waved his hand,
As much as to say, "We'll excuse you!" and
I heard, as I squinted my eyelids to,
A kiss like the drip of a drop of dew!
 James Whitcomb Riley was born on October 7, 1849 in Greenfield, Indiana. His father, a frontier politician and lawyer, named his son after an Indiana governor, James Whitcomb. His mother was a homemaker, and she also wrote poetry. Riley had a difficult time academically, but possessed a talent for language, especially that of his own people. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but he did not apply himself to law. For a time he traveled the American Midwest as a sign painter. He also traveled with a medicine salesman, and drew crowds by playing songs and performing impersonations of people he had met in his travels.
Riley's childhood and home were also great influences on him. His most famous poems were about people and situations from his real life. His poems, "The Raggedy Man," and "Little Orphant Annie," are about a hired hand and an orphan girl who helped on the family farm. The farmhand and Annie told the local children stories that Riley immortalized in his work.
Mr. Riley died of a stroke on 22 July, 1916. United States President, Woodrow Wilson, sent a note to the poet's family, saying Riley was "...a man who imparted joyful pleasure and a thoughtful view of many things that other men would have missed."
  
 Fairyland
Fairy Fountians
Fairies And Unicorns
Wee Folk In Fairyland
Fairy Globes
Fairy Medallions
Sweet Little Fairies
Fairy Paintings
Celtic And Fae Midis
Flower Fairy Sparkles
Fairy Art In Fancy Frames
Butterfly Wing Fairies
A Home-Made Fairy Tale
The Pixie People
Dancing Princess Fairies
The Treasure Of Fairy Wings
Little Fairy Imps
Featured Music: 
"Mystic"
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