A Christmas Memory

Summary


"A Christmas Memory" by James Whitcomb Riley captures Christmas through the eyes of a small child staying at his aunt's house while his mother is gravely ill. Told entirely in the boy's own unpolished speech, the poem moves between cheerful anticipation of his father's Christmas Day return and quiet, half-understood glimpses of adult grief — a father's wet cheeks, an aunt who turns away to cry. The child's heartbreaking final declaration cuts through all the festive trappings with devastating simplicity.

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Pa he bringed me here to stay
  ’Til my Ma she’s well.–An’ nen
He’s go’ hitch up, Chris’mus-day,
  An’ come take me back again
Wher’ my Ma’s at! Won’t I be
Tickled when he comes fer me!

My Ma an’ my A’nty they
  ’Uz each-uvver’s sisters. Pa–
A’nty telled me, th’ other day,–
  He comed here an’ married Ma….
A’nty said nen, “Go run play,
  I must work now!” … An’ I saw,
When she turn’ her face away,
  She ‘uz cryin’.–An’ nen I
  ’Tend-like I “run play”–an’ cry.

This-here house o’ A’nty’s wher’
They ‘uz borned–my Ma an’ her!–
An’ her Ma ‘uz my Ma’s Ma,
An’ her Pa ‘uz my Ma’s Pa–

Ain’t that funny?–An’ they’re dead:
An’ this-here’s “th’ ole Homestead.”–
An’ my A’nty said, an’ cried,
It’s mine, too, ef my Ma died–
Don’t know what she mean–’cause my
Ma she’s nuvver go’ to die!

When Pa bringed me here ‘t ‘uz night–
  ’Way dark night! An’ A’nty spread
Me a piece–an’ light the light
  An’ say I must go to bed.–
  I cry not to—but Pa said,
“Be good boy now, like you telled
  Mommy ‘at you’re go’ to be!”
  An’, when he ‘uz kissin’ me
    My good night, his cheeks’ all wet
An’ taste salty.–An’ he held
  Wite close to me an’ rocked some
  An’ langhed-like–’til A’nty come
    Git me while he’s rockin’ yet.

A’nty he’p me, ’til I be
Purt’-nigh strip-pud–nen hug me
In bofe arms an’ lif’ me ‘way
Up in her high bed–an’ pray
  Wiv me,–’bout my Ma–an’ Pa–
An’ ole Santy Claus–an’ Sleigh–
  An’ Reindeers an’ little Drum–
  Yes, an’ Picture-books, “Tom Thumb,”
An’ “Three Bears,” an’ ole “Fee-Faw”–

A small boy in a nightshirt kneeling in prayer with his aunt by candlelight, from A Christmas Memory.

    Yes, an’ “Tweedle-Dee” an’ “Dum,”
    An’ “White Knight” an’ “Squidjicum,”
An’ most things you ever saw!–
    An’ when A’nty kissed me, she
    ’Uz all cryin’ over me!

Don’t want Santy Claus–ner things
Any kind he ever brings!–
Don’t want A’nty!–Don’t want Pa!–
I ist only want my Ma!

Credits

James Whitcomb Riley was a beloved 19th-century American poet, often called the "Hoosier Poet" for his warm portrayals of Indiana rural life. He was celebrated for capturing the authentic voice of childhood, and in this poem he renders a child's dialect so faithfully that the innocence itself becomes the poem's sharpest emotional instrument.