| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1139. Ike Walton’s Prayer |
| | | By James Whitcomb Riley |
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| I CRAVE, dear Lord, | |
| No boundless hoard | |
| Of gold and gear, | |
| Nor jewels fine, | |
| Nor lands, nor kine, | 5 |
| Nor treasure-heaps of anything.— | |
| Let but a little hut be mine | |
| Where at the hearthstone I may hear | |
| The cricket sing, | |
| And have the shine | 10 |
| Of one glad woman’s eyes to make, | |
| For my poor sake, | |
| Our simple home a place divine:— | |
| Just the wee cot—the cricket’s chirr— | |
| Love, and the smiling face of her. | 15 |
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| I pray not for | |
| Great riches, nor | |
| For vast estates and castle-halls:— | |
| Give me to hear the bare footfalls | |
| Of children o’er | 20 |
| An oaken floor | |
| New-rinsed with sunshine, or bespread | |
| With but the tiny coverlet | |
| And pillow for the baby’s head; | |
| And, pray Thou, may | 25 |
| The door stand open and the day | |
| Send ever in a gentle breeze, | |
| With fragrance from the locust-trees, | |
| And drowsy moan of doves, and blur | |
| Of robin-chirps, and drone of bees, | 30 |
| With after-hushes of the stir | |
| Of intermingling sounds, and then | |
| The goodwife and the smile of her | |
| Filling the silences again— | |
| The cricket’s call | 35 |
| And the wee cot, | |
| Dear Lord of all, | |
| Deny me not! | |
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| I pray not that | |
| Men tremble at | 40 |
| My power of place | |
| And lordly sway,— | |
| I only pray for simple grace | |
| To look my neighbor in the face | |
| Full honestly from day to day— | 45 |
| Yield me his horny palm to hold, | |
| And I ’ll not pray | |
| For gold:— | |
| The tanned face, garlanded with mirth, | |
| It hath the kingliest smile on earth; | 50 |
| The swart brow, diamonded with sweat, | |
| Hath never need of coronet. | |
| And so I reach, | |
| Dear Lord, to Thee, | |
| And do beseech | 55 |
| Thou givest me | |
| The wee cot, and the cricket’s chirr, | |
| Love, and the glad sweet face of her. | |
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