Mrs. Miller (down Around the River Poems)

Mrs. Miller (down Around the River Poems)

The poem revolves around a woman named Mrs. Miller who lives near the River Poems. She is depicted as being lonely and isolated from society. The speaker describes her home as being surrounded by nature, with trees and flowers growing in abundance. Mrs. Miller's life is portrayed as one of quiet desperation, where she spends most of her time alone, lost in thought. Her isolation is emphasized through the use of imagery, such as the "darkness" that surrounds her home and the "silence" that pervades her daily life. The poem suggests that Mrs. Miller's loneliness is a result of her own choices, rather than any external circumstances. The speaker implies that she has chosen to withdraw from society, and in doing so, has lost touch with the world around her. Throughout the poem, the speaker uses imagery and symbolism to convey the sense of isolation and loneliness that pervades Mrs. Miller's life. The use of natural imagery serves to highlight the contrast between Mrs. Miller's isolated existence and the vibrant, thriving world outside her home. The overall tone of the poem is one of melancholy and introspection, inviting the reader to reflect on the human experience of loneliness and isolation.

By James Whitcomb Riley · First published 1883 · Genre: Poetry, Satire, Romance · 6,305 words

First lines

John B. McKinney, Attorney and Counselor at Law, as his sign read, was, for many reasons, a fortunate man. For many other reasons he was not. He was chiefly fortunate in being, as certain opponents often strove to witheringly designate him, "the son of his father," since that sound old gentleman was the wealthiest farmer in that section, with but one son and heir to, in time, supplant him in the role of "county god," and haply perpetuate the prouder title of "the biggest tax-payer on the assessment list. " And this fact, too, fortunate as it would seem, was doubtless the indirect occasion of a liberal percentage of all John's misfortunes. From his earliest school-days in the little town, up to his tardy graduation from a distant college, the influence of his father's wealth invited his procrastination, humored its results, encouraged the laxity of his ambition, "and even now," as John used, in bitter irony, to put it, "it is aiding and abetting me in the ostensible practice of my chosen profession, a listless, aimless undetermined man of forty, and a confirmed bachelor at that! " At the utterance of this self-depreciating statement, John generally jerked his legs down from the top of his desk; and, rising and kicking his chair back to the wall, he would stump around his littered office till the manilla carpet steamed with dust. Then he would wildly break away, seeking refuge either in the open street, or in his room at the old-time tavern, The Eagle House, "where," he would say, "I have lodged and boarded, I do solemnly asseverate, for a long, unbroken, middle-aged eternity of ten years, and can yet assert, in the words of the more fortunately-dying Webster, that 'I still live!"

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Mrs. Miller (down Around the River Poems) is listed on Textopian as a poem by James Whitcomb Riley, dated 1883 CE.

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Poetry Collection · American Literature · 19th Century Poetry · Regionalism · Midwestern Literature · Folk Poems · Rural Life · Nature Imagery · Satire · Social Commentary · Humor · Storytelling

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