Old friend of mine, whose chiming name <br />Has been the burthen of a rhyme <br />Within my heart since first I came <br />To know thee in thy mellow prime; <br />With warm emotions in my breast <br />That can but coldly be expressed, <br />And hopes and wishes wild and vain, <br />I reach my hand to thee, Dan Paine. <br /> <br />In fancy, as I sit alone <br />In gloomy fellowship with care, <br />I hear again thy cheery tone, <br />And wheel for thee an easy chair; <br />And from my hand the pencil falls-- <br />My book upon the carpet sprawls, <br />As eager soul and heart and brain, <br />Leap up to welcome thee, Dan Paine. <br /> <br />A something gentle in thy mein, <br />A something tender in thy voice, <br />Has made my trouble so serene, <br />I can but weep, from very choice. <br />And even then my tears, I guess, <br />Hold more of sweet than bitterness, <br />And more of gleaming shine than rain, <br />Because of thy bright smile, Dan Paine. <br /> <br />The wrinkles that the years have spun <br />And tangled round thy tawny face, <br />Are kinked with laughter, every one, <br />And fashioned in a mirthful grace. <br />And though the twinkle of thine eyes <br />Is keen as frost when Summer dies, <br />It can not long as frost remain <br />While thy warm soul shines out, Dan Paine. <br /> <br />And so I drain a health to thee;-- <br />May merry Joy and jolly Mirth <br />Like children clamber on thy knee, <br />And ride thee round the happy earth! <br />And when, at last, the hand of Fate <br />Shall lift the latch of Canaan's gate, <br />And usher me in thy domain, <br />Smile on me just as now, Dan Paine.<br /><br />James Whitcomb Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dan-paine/
