Project Gutenberg 2010-05-11 Public domain in the USA. 574 Riley, James Whitcomb 1849 1916 Johnson, Benj. F. of Boone Johnson, B. F. The Old Soldier's Story: Poems and Prose Sketches Produced by David Clarke, Chandra Friend and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) "The Old Soldier's Story: Poems and Prose Sketches" by James Whitcomb Riley is a collection of poems and prose sketches written in the early 20th century. The works capture various themes, including humor, nostalgia, love, and the experiences of soldiers, as evidenced in the opening sketch featuring an old soldier recounting a humorous yet poignant tale from the battlefield. The light-heartedness juxtaposed with deeper reflections offers readers a glimpse into the human condition from an approachable and often witty perspective. The opening of this collection introduces us to a storyteller—an old soldier—addressing an audience at a banquet. He begins relating a familiar, comedic anecdote about a cannonball hitting a soldier during battle, leading to a playful mix-up involving the soldier's injuries. This narrative sets the stage for the blend of humor and humanity that pervades the collection. The soldier's manner of storytelling, filled with dialect and earnestness, highlights the authenticity of his voice, inviting readers to connect with the simplicity and depth of shared human experiences even amid chaos and tragedy. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 80.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. en American wit and humor American poetry PS Text Category: Poetry Category: Humour Category: American Literature 299533 2025-08-13T08:25:54.676020 text/html 305944 2010-05-11T10:48:26 text/html 182626 2025-08-13T08:26:06.624035 application/epub+zip 183774 2025-08-13T08:25:59.023999 application/epub+zip 156800 2025-08-13T08:25:57.248998 application/epub+zip 417821 2025-08-13T08:26:10.456948 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 401042 2025-08-13T08:26:04.810989 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 288621 2022-09-15T04:08:15.085888 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 193050 2025-08-13T08:25:52.989005 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 192793 2010-05-11T10:48:26 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 192785 2010-05-11T10:48:26 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20664 2025-08-13T08:26:10.604918 application/rdf+xml 20238 2025-08-13T08:25:57.786979 image/jpeg 4508 2025-08-13T08:25:57.516011 image/jpeg 76112 2010-05-11T10:48:26 application/octet-stream application/zip 86242 2010-05-11T10:48:26 application/octet-stream application/zip 76092 2010-05-11T10:48:26 application/octet-stream application/zip 173866 2025-08-13T08:25:54.697017 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia