Explore "The Little White Hearse" by James Whitcomb Riley on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
As the little white hearse went glimmering by- / The man on the coal-cart jerked his lines, / And smutted the lid of either eye, / And turned and stared at the business signs; / And the street-car driver stopped and beat / His hands on his shoulders, and gazed up-street / Till his eye on the long track reached the sky- / As the little white hearse went glimmering by.
As the little white hearse went glimmering by- / A stranger petted a ragged child / In the crowded walks, and she knew not why, / But he gave her a coin for the way she smiled; / And a boot-black thrilled with a pleasure strange, / As a customer put back his change / With a kindly hand and a grateful sigh, / As the little white hearse went glimmering by.
As the little white hearse went glimmering by- / A man looked out of a window dim, / And his cheeks were wet and his heart was dry, / For a dead child even were dear to him! / And he thought of his empty life, and said: - / "Loveless alive, and loveless dead- / Nor wife nor child in earth or sky! " / As the little white hearse went glimmering by.