Explore "The Orchard Lands of Long Ago" by James Whitcomb Riley on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The orchard lands of Long Ago!
O drowsy winds, awake, and blow / The snowy blossoms back to me, / And all the buds that used to be!
Blow back along the grassy ways / Of truant feet, and lift the haze / Of happy summer from the trees / That trail their tresses in the seas / Of grain that float and overflow / The orchard lands of Long Ago!
Blow back the melody that slips / In lazy laughter from the lips / That marvel much if any kiss / Is sweeter than the apple's is.
Blow back the twitter of the birds -- / The lisp, the titter, and the words / Of merriment that found the shine / Of summer-time a glorious wine / That drenched the leaves that loved it so, / In orchard lands of Long Ago!
O memory! alight and sing / Where rosy-bellied pippins cling, / And golden russets glint and gleam, / As, in the old Arabian dream, / The fruits of that enchanted tree / The glad Aladdin robbed for me!
And, drowsy winds, awake and fan / My blood as when it overran / A heart ripe as the apples grow / In orchard lands of Long Ago!