{"id":16193,"date":"2017-02-14T07:37:18","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T14:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=16193"},"modified":"2017-02-14T07:37:18","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T14:37:18","slug":"montana-viewpoint-a-little-poetic-relief-from-mr-riley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2017\/02\/montana-viewpoint-a-little-poetic-relief-from-mr-riley\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Viewpoint: A little poetic relief from Mr. Riley"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JE\"<\/a>

Jim Elliott<\/p><\/div>\n

When I sat down to write today I became immediately depressed about the possible topics at hand, so I decided to share with you a poem by James Whitcomb Riley, a framed copy of which has graced a small room in my parents\u2019 home and then my home for almost a century. Happy Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

The Passing of the Backhouse<\/h5>\n

When memory keeps me company and moves to smiles or tears,
\nA weather-beaten object looms up through the mist of years.
\nBehind the house and barn it stood, a half a mile or more,
\nAnd hurrying feet a path had made straight to its swinging door.
\nIts architecture was a type of simple classic art,
\nBut in the tragedy of life it played a leading part;
\nAnd oft the passing traveler drove slow and heaved a sigh,
\nTo see the modest hired girl slip out with glances shy.<\/p>\n

We had our posy garden that the women loved so well;
\nI loved it too, but better still, I loved the stronger smell
\nThat filled the evening breezes so full of homely cheer,
\nAnd told the night-o\u2019ertaken tramp that human life was near.
\nOn lazy August afternoons, it made a little bower,
\nDelightful, where my grandsire sat and whiled away an hour;
\nFor there the summer morning its very cares entwined,
\nAnd berry bushes reddened in the streaming soil behind.<\/p>\n

All day fat spiders spun their webs to catch the buzzing flies,
\nAnd flitted to and from the house where Ma was baking pies.
\nAnd once a swarm of hornets bold had built a palace there,
\nAnd stung my unsuspecting aunt\u2014I must not tell you where,
\nThen father took a flaming pole\u2014that was a happy day\u2014
\nHe nearly burned the building down, but the hornets left to stay.
\nWhen summer bloom began to fade and winter to carouse,
\nWe banked the little building with a heap of hemlock boughs.<\/p>\n

But when the crust was on the snow and the sullen skies were gray,
\nIn sooth the building was no place where one would wish to stay.
\nWe did or duties promptly there, but one purpose filled the mind;
\nWe tarried not, nor lingered long, on what we left behind.
\nThe torture of that icy seat could make a Spartan sob
\nFor needs must scrape the goose-flesh with a lacerating cob
\nThat from a frost encrusted nail, was suspended by a string.
\nMy father was a frugal man, and wasted not a thing.<\/p>\n

When grandpa had to \u201cgo out back\u201d and make his morning call,
\nWe bundled up the dear old man with a muffler and a shawl.
\nI knew the hole on which he sat\u2014\u2018twas padded all around,
\nAnd once I dared to sit there\u2014\u2018twas all to wide I found.
\nMy loins were all too little, and I Jack-knifed there to stay,
\nThey had to come and get me, or I\u2019d a passed away.
\nThen father said ambition was a thing that boys should shun,
\nAnd I must use the children\u2019s hole till childhood days were done.<\/p>\n

But still I marvel at the craft that cut those holes so true;
\nThe baby hole, and the slender hole that fitted sister Sue.
\nThat dear old country landmark; I tramped around a bit,
\nAnd in the lamp of luxury my lot has been to sit.
\nBut ere I did I\u2019ll eat the fruit of trees I robbed of yore,
\nThen seek the shanty where my name is carved upon the door,
\nI ween the old familiar smell will sooth my faded soul;
\nI\u2019m now a man, but none the less I\u2019ll try the children\u2019s hole.<\/p>\n

Jim Elliott is a former chairman of the Montana Democratic Party and a former state senator from Trout Creek.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I sat down to write today I became immediately depressed about the possible topics at hand, so I decided to share with you a poem by James Whitcomb Riley, a framed copy of which has graced a small room in my parents\u2019 home and then my home for almost a century. Happy Valentine\u2019s Day. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":16194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3864],"tags":[5514],"class_list":["post-16193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-james-whitcomb-riley","prominence-category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}