When My Dreams Come True (Riley)

by James Whitcomb Riley

For works with similar titles, see When My Dreams Come True.

When My Dreams Come True

When My Dreams Come True
By
James Whitcomb Riley

 

 

Decorated by
Emily Hall Chamberlain

 

The Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publishers

Copyright, 1883, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1894,
1897, 1898, 1901, 1905, 1913

 

by
James Whitcomb Riley

 

All rights reserved

When My Dreams Come True

HEN my dreams come true—when my dreams come true—Shall I lean from out my casement, in the starlight and the dew,To listen—smile and listen to the tinkle of the strings 

Of the sweet guitar my lover's fingers fondle, as he sings?And as the nude moon slowly, slowly shoulders into view,Shall I vanish from his vision—when my dreams come true?When my dreams come true—shall the simple gown I wearBe changed to softest satin, and my maiden-braided hair 

Be raveled into flossy mists of rarest, fairest gold,To be minted into kisses, more than any heart can hold?—Or "the summer of my tresses" shall my lover liken to"The fervor of his passion"—when my dreams come true?When my dreams come true—I shall bide among the sheaves 

Of happy harvest meadows; and the grasses and the leavesShall lift and lean between me and splendor of the sun,Till the noon swoons into twilight, and the gleaners' work is done—Save that yet an arm shall bind me, even as the reapers doThe meanest sheaf of harvest—when my dreams come true. 

When my dreams come true! when my dreams come true!True love in all simplicity is fresh and pure as dew;—The blossom in the blackest mold is kindlier to the eyeThan any lily born of pride that looms against the sky:And so it is I know my heart will gladly welcome you,My lowliest of lovers, when my dreams come true.