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An invitation to you and your folks from Jim and some more of the home folks. Ade, George, 1866–1944 
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THE HOOSIER IN EXILE

  • The Hoosier in Exile--a toast
  • That by its very sound
  • Moves us, at first, to tears almost,
  • And sympathy profound;
  • But musing for a little space,
  • We lift the glass and smile,
  • And poise it with a royal grace--
  • The Hoosier in Exile!
  • The Hoosier in Exile, forsooth!
  • For though his steps may roam
  • The earth's remotest bounds, in truth
  • His heart is ever home!
  • O loyal still to every tie
  • Of native fields and streams,
  • His boyhood friends, and paths whereby
  • He finds them in his dreams!
  • Though he may fare the thronging maze
  • Of alien city streets,
  • His thoughts are set in grassy ways
  • And woodlands' cool retreats;
  • Forever, clear and sweet above
  • The traffic's roar and din,
  • In breezy groves he hears the dove,
  • And is at peace within.
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  • When newer friends and generous hands
  • Advance him, he returns
  • Due gratefulness, yet, pausing, stands
  • As one who strangely yearns
  • To pay still further thanks, but sighs
  • To think he knows not where,
  • Till--like as life--with misty eyes
  • He sees his mother there.
  • The Hoosier in Exile? Ah, well,
  • Accept the phrase, but know
  • The Hoosier heart must ever dwell
  • Where orchard blossoms grow
  • The whitest, apples reddest, and,
  • In cornlands, mile on mile,
  • The old homesteads forever stand--
  • "The Hoosier in Exile!"
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.
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