James Whitcomb Riley. 1849-1916. John Bartlett, comp. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed.

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

James Whitcomb Riley. (1849–1916)

The ripest peach is highest on the tree.

The ripest Peach.

    O’er folded blooms
  On swirls of musk,
The beetle booms adown the glooms
  And bumps along the dusk.

The Beetle.

    One naked star has waded through
  The purple shadows of the night,
And faltering as falls the dew
  It drips its misty light.

The Beetle.

An’ the Gobble-uns ’ll git you
Ef you don’t watch out.

Little Orphant Annie.