Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TRAVELING MAN, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Could I pour out the nectar the gods only can Last Line: Will welcome the traveling man! Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Hearts; Travel; Wine; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
I COULD I pour out the nectar the gods only can, I would fill up my glass to the brim And drink the success of the Traveling Man, And the house represented by him; And could I but tincture the glorious draught With his smiles, as I drank to him then, And the jokes he has told and the laughs he has laughed, I would fill up the goblet again -- And drink to the sweetheart who gave him good-by With a tenderness thrilling him this Very hour, as he thinks of the tear in her eye That salted the sweet of her kiss; To her truest of hearts and her fairest of hands I would drink, with all serious prayers, Since the heart she must trust is a Traveling Man's, And as warm as the ulster he wears. II I would drink to the wife, with the babe on her knee, Who awaits his returning in vain -- Who breaks his brave letters so tremulously And reads them again and again! And I'd drink to the feeble old mother who sits At the warm fireside of her son And murmurs and weeps o'er the stocking she knits, As she thinks of the wandering one. I would drink a long life and a health to the friends Who have met him with smiles and with cheer -- To the generous hand that the landlord extends To the wayfarer journeying here: And I pledge, when he turns from this earthly abode And pays the last fare that he can, Mine Host of the Inn at the End of the Road Will welcome the Traveling Man! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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