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James Whitcomb Riley - "Friday Afternoon"
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To William Morris Pierson
[1868-1870]

Of the wealth of facts and fancies
    That our memories may recall,
The old school-day romances
    Are the dearest, after all!--.
When some sweet thought revises
    The half-forgotten tune
That opened "Exercises"
    On "Friday Afternoon."

We seem to hear the clicking
    Of the pencil and the pen,
And the solemn, ceaseless ticking
    Of the timepiece ticking then;
And we note the watchful master,
    As he waves the warning rod,
With our own heart beating faster
    Than the boy`s who threw the wad.

Some little hand uplifted,
    And the creaking of a shoe:--
A problem left unsifted
    For the teacher`s hand to do:
The murmured hum of learning--
    And the flutter of a book;
The smell of something burning,
    And the school`s inquiring look.

The bashful boy in blushes;
    And the girl, with glancing eyes,
Who hides her smiles, and hushes
    The laugh about to rise,--
Then, with a quick invention,
    Assumes a serious face,
To meet the words, "Attention!
    Every scholar in his place!"

The opening song, page 20.--
    Ah! dear old "Golden Wreath,"
You willed your sweets in plenty;
    And some who look beneath
The leaves of Time will linger,
    And loving tears will start,
As Fancy trails her finger
    O`er the index of the heart.

"Good News from Home"--We hear it
    Welling tremulous, yet clear
And holy as the spirit
    Of the song we used to hear--
"Good news for me" (A throbbing
    And an aching melody)--
"Has come across the"--(sobbing,
    Yea, and salty) "dark blue sea!"

Or the paean "Scotland`s burning!"
    With its mighty surge and swell
Of chorus, still returning
    To its universal yell--
Till we`re almost glad to drop to
    Something sad and full of pain--
And "Skip verse three," and stop, too,
    Ere our hearts are broke again.

Then "the big girls`" compositions,
    With their doubt, and hope, and glow
Of heart and face,--conditions
    Of "the big boys"--even so,--
When themes of "Spring," and "Summer"
    And of "Fall," and "Winter-time"
Droop our heads and hold us dumber
    Than the sleigh-bell`s fancied chime.

Elocutionary science--
    (Still in changeless infancy!)--
With its "Cataline`s Defiance,"
    And "The Banner of the Free":
Or, lured from Grandma`s attic,
    A ramshackle "rocker" there,
Adds a skreek of the dramatic
    To the poet`s "Old Arm-Chair."

Or the "Speech of Logan" shifts us
    From the pathos, to the fire;
And Tell (with Gessler) lifts us
    Many noble notches higher.--
Till a youngster, far from sunny,
    With sad eyes of watery blue,
Winds up with something "funny,"
    Like "Cock-a-doodle-do!"

Then a dialogue--selected
    For its realistic worth:--
The Cruel Boy detected
    With a turtle turned to earth
Back downward; and, in pleading,
    The Good Boy--strangely gay
At such a sad proceeding--
    Says, "Turn him over, pray!"

So the exercises taper
    Through gradations of delight
To the reading of "The Paper,"
    Which is entertaining--quite!
For it goes ahead and mentions
    "If a certain Mr. O.
Has serious intentions
    That he ought to tell her so."

It also "Asks permission
    To intimate to `John`
The dubious condition
    Of the ground he`s standing on";
And, dropping the suggestion
    To "mind what he`s about,"
It stuns him with the question:
    "Does his mother know he`s out?"

And among the contributions
    To this "Academic Press"
Are "Versified Effusions"
    By--"Our lady editress"--
Which fact is proudly stated
    By the CHIEF of the concern,--
"Though the verse communicated
    Bears the pen-name `Fanny Fern.` "

    .   .   .   .   .   .
When all has been recited,
    And the teacher`s bell is heard,
And visitors, invited,
    Have dropped a kindly word,
A hush of holy feeling
    Falls down upon us there,
As though the day were kneeling,
    With the twilight for the prayer.

    .   .   .   .   .   .
Midst the wealth of facts and fancies
    That our memories may recall,
Thus the old school-day romances
    Are the dearest, after all!--
When some sweet thought revises
    The half-forgotten tune
That opened "Exercises,"
    On "Friday Afternoon."
Source
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