"Autobiographies of great nations are written in three manuscripts – a book of deeds, a book of words, and a book of art. Of the three, I would choose the latter as truest testimony." - Sir Kenneth Smith, Great Civilisations

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." - Leo Tolstoy

I have never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. - John Updike

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti


[Note - If any article requires updating or correction please notate this in the comment section. Thank you. - res]

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Eugene Field - Children's Poems, Bios & Resources



Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
by Eugene Field (1850 –1895)

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe,—
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we,"
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew;
The little stars were the herring-fish
That lived in the beautiful sea.
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish,—
Never afraid are we!"
So cried the stars to the fishermen three,
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam,—
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home:
'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
As if it could not be;
And some folk thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea;
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed;
So shut your eyes while Mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:—
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod

- by Eugene Field

* * * * * * * *


Eugene Field was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 2, 1850. His father was Roswell Martin Field, an attorney who once represented Dred Scott, an African American man known for the 1857 United States Supreme Court case in which he sued for his freedom. After Field’s mother, Frances, died in 1856, he and his brother, Roswell, were sent to Amherst, Massachusetts, to live with Mary Field, their aunt. 

Field attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts; Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois; and the University of Missouri in Columbia, but left without graduating. In 1873, he began working at the St. Louis Journal. His humorous column “Funny Fancies” gained popularity among readers and, in 1880, he moved to Denver, where he worked as managing editor of the Denver Tribune and continued to pen a column. According to the Denver Public Library, “Eugene was known throughout Denver for his practical jokes. His office at the Denver Tribune included a chair with a false bottom. An unsuspecting person would attempt to sit in the chair and fall to the floor instead.”

In 1883, Field moved to Chicago to write a column for the Chicago Daily News. Throughout his career, his columns would occasionally feature his light verse for children, and he became known as the “Poet of Childhood.” His poems were published in A Little Book of Western Verse (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903); The Tribune Primer (Henry A. Dickerman & Son, 1900); and Love-Songs of Childhood (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1894). 

Field died on November 4, 1895, in Chicago. 


* * * * * * * *


Japanese Traditional Song
"Takeda Lullaby" Acapella


Japanese Lullaby
by Eugene Field (1850 –1895)


Sleep, little pigeon, and fold your wings,—
Little blue pigeon with velvet eyes;
Sleep to the singing of mother-bird swinging—
Swinging the nest where her little one lies.

Away out yonder I see a star,—
Silvery star with a tinkling song;
To the soft dew falling I hear it calling—
Calling and tinkling the night along.

In through the window a moonbeam comes,—
Little gold moonbeam with misty wings;
All silently creeping, it asks, "Is he sleeping—
Sleeping and dreaming while mother sings?"

Up from the sea there floats the sob
Of the waves that are breaking upon the shore,
As though they were groaning in anguish, and moaning—
Bemoaning the ship that shall come no more.

But sleep, little pigeon, and fold your wings,—
Little blue pigeon with mournful eyes;
Am I not singing?—see, I am swinging—
Swinging the nest where my darling lies.

- by Eugene Field

* * * * * * * *



The Sugar-Plum Tree
by Eugene Field (1850 –1895)


Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?
'Tis a marvel of great renown!
It blooms on the shore of the Lollypop sea
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town;
The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet
(As those who have tasted it say)
That good little children have only to eat
Of that fruit to be happy next day.

When you've got to the tree, you would have a hard time
To capture the fruit which I sing;
The tree is so tall that no person could climb
To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!
But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,
And a gingerbread dog prowls below -
And this is the way you contrive to get at
Those sugar-plums tempting you so:

You say but the word to that gingerbread dog
And he barks with such terrible zest
That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,
As her swelling proportions attest.
And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around
From this leafy limb unto that,
And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground -
Hurrah for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes,
With stripings of scarlet or gold,
And you carry away of the treasure that rains,
As much as your apron can hold!
So come, little child, cuddle closer to me
In your dainty white nightcap and gown,
And I'll rock you away to that Sugar-Plum Tree
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

- by Eugene Field


* * * * * * * *


Dream Lady, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago

Eugene Fields Bio

For fifty dollars a week, the Chicago Morning News lured popular newspaper columnist Eugene Field to relocate from Denver. In 1883, Field was already widely known, and his new column, Sharps and Flats, would continue his reputation for humorous essays. Living near the intersection of North Clarendon and West Hutchinson in the Buena Park neighborhood, Field chided current events and people, often in the arts and literature, and made a habit of criticizing his new city’s materialism. He called Chicago, “Porkopolis.” Soon, Field’s production of children’s verse increased, and his audience broadened. Field’s first poetry publication was in 1879, and more than a dozen volumes followed. Though Field’s intended audience appeared to be largely adults, his nostalgic recollections of growing up earned him the nickname “Poet of Childhood.” He also wrote a substantial number of short stories. Field died of a heart attack in Chicago at the age of 45, and is buried at Kenilworth’s Church of the Holy Comforter. The Eugene Field Memorial in the Lincoln Park Zoo features “Dream Lady,” an Edwin Francis McCartan sculpture based on the poem, “The Rock-a-By Lady from Hush-a-By Street.” The granite base depicts scenes from other Field poems, including “The Fly Away Horse” and “Seein Things.” His famous “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” as well as parts of “The Sugar Plum Tree” are carved into the sides. Other local memorials include an Albany Park field house named after the writer; Chicago, Elmhurst, Park Ridge, Wheeling, Rock Island and Normal elementary schools bearing his name; and Field Park in Oak Park.


* * * * * * * *


Eugene Fields Poems


At the Door

Armenian Lullaby

Ashes on the Slide

Ballad of the Jelly-Cake

Bambino (Corsican Lullaby)

Beard and Baby

Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-me-Not

Christmas Eve

Christmas Treasures

Cobbler and Stork

The Cunnin' Little Thing

The Dinkey-Bird

The Duel

Father's Letter

The Fire-Hangbird's Nest

The First Christmas Tree, 1912

Ganderfeather's Gift

Garden and Cradle

Gold and Love for Dearie, Cornish Lullaby

Hi-Spy

In the Firelight

Jest 'fore Christmas

Jewish Lullaby

Kissing Time

To a Little Brook

Little Boy Blue

Little Croodlin' Doo

Little Mistress Sans-Merci

Lollyby, Lolly, Lollyby

Long Ago

Marcus Varro, on a Roman book-lover

To Mary Field French

Morning Song

The Night Wind

Norse Lullaby

Oh, Little Child (Sicilian Lullaby)

The Peace of Christmas-Time

Pittypat and Tippytoe

Rock-a-by-Lady

Seein' Things

The Sugar Plum Tree

Telling the Bees, The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893

A Valentine

With Trumpet and Drum

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, Dutch Lullaby

The Dream Ship


* * * * * * * *


Eugene Field (1850 - 1895)

Poet Eugene Fields


Poet, newspaper writer, and humorist whose poetry for and about children is still widely read today.

Early Life

Eugene Field was born September 2nd, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri. His father, Roswell Field, was a famous lawyer.

Roswell Field was best known as the attorney for Dred Scott in the Dred Scott Case. He argued for the rights of African Americans to earn United States citizenship.

Eugene was mostly raised by his mother, as his father was very busy. However, Eugene's mother passed away when he was only six years old. Eugene's father did not have time to take care of the children, so Eugene and his brothers were sent to Amherst, Massachusetts to live with an aunt.

College and Europe

Eugene was a notoriously poor student who barely graduated high school. He was able to get into Williams College in Massachusetts based mostly on family connections.

Eugene was at Williams College for only a year, as he dropped out in 1868 to return to Missouri. His father was very sick, and Eugene stayed in St. Louis until his father passed away in 1869.

Eugene inherited quite a bit of money from his father, but was not allowed to have any of it until he turned twenty-one.

Later that year, nineteen-year-old Eugene enrolled at Knox University in Illinois. He was expelled from Knox after a practical joke went wrong.

Eugene returned to Missouri for his last two years of college. He enrolled at the University of Missouri in Columbia where his brother Roswell Jr. was a student. Eugene studied Journalism, but was much better known for his outrageous pranks than his academics.

Although Eugene attended three colleges, he never earned a diploma. Eugene hated mathematics and failed his required math courses at the University of Missouri, which kept him from graduating.

Eugene was able to use his inheritance after his senior year of college, so he decided to travel to Europe rather than go back to school and try to graduate. He and his good friend Edgar Comstock traveled for six months, until Eugene realized he had spent his entire (large) inheritance in less than a year!

Writing for Newspapers

Invitation to wedding of Eugene Field and Julia Comstock.

Back in Missouri, Eugene took a job writing for the St. Louis Evening Journal. He spent quite a bit of time with Edgar Comstock and his family in St. Louis. Eugene soon fell in love with Edgar's fourteen-year-old sister, Julia.

Julia's father would not let her get married before she turned eighteen, so Eugene dedicated himself to his work at the St. Louis Evening Journal while he waited.

He was promoted to editor in only six months. He spent the rest of his time trying to convince Julia's father to let them get married earlier.

Two years later, he was successful. In 1873, twenty-three-year-old Eugene and sixteen-year-old Julia were married.

They had a very happy marriage, and their family grew to include eight children. Eugene prided himself on being an excellent father, and his children were the inspiration for many of his poems.

Eugene spent the next three years working at newspapers around Missouri as a writer and editor. In 1876, he was hired by the St. Louis Times-Journal. Eugene wrote a column called "Funny Fancies" that included humorous articles, short stories, and poems. "Funny Fancies" was so popular that newspapers around the country began reprinting the column.

Eugene Comes to Denver

Francis Wilson, a famous actor of the 1880s (left) and Eugene Field (right)

Eugene's popularity as a writer led to many job offers.

In 1880, he accepted the position of managing editor of the Denver Tribune. Eugene's most popular columns in the Denver Tribune were titled "The Current Gossip" and "Odds and Ends."

Both columns satirized daily life in early Denver. For instance, Eugene poked fun at the city's Wild West atmosphere in an article warning little girls about the dangers of chewing tobacco daily.

Eugene was known throughout Denver for his practical jokes. His office at the Denver Tribune included a chair with a false bottom. An unsuspecting person would attempt to sit in the chair and fall to the floor instead.

In the 1880s, Denver was a popular place to rest for a few days when traveling between the East and West Coast. Because of this, Eugene became friends with the many important people who stopped in Denver. Famous writers, actors, and artists were among Eugene's personal friends, and they helped promote Eugene's writing.

Eugene used his growing fame to publish his first two books while in Denver. His first collection of poems was called The Tribune Primer. While only a few copies were published, the Tribune Primer circulated throughout the country. Eugene's second work, A Little Book of Western Verse, contained poems as well as articles from his newspaper column "The Current Gossip."

These two books made Eugene a literary celebrity. He received many job offers to write for newspapers throughout the country.

In 1883, Eugene decided to take a job writing for the Chicago Morning News.

Sharps and Flats

Original Printing of Sharps and Flats Column 'An Event of Note'.

In Chicago, Eugene continued writing "The Current Gossip" for the Chicago Morning News, though after a few weeks Eugene renamed the column "Sharps and Flats."

"Sharps and Flats" became the most popular column of its time, and was reprinted in hundreds of newspapers daily. Eugene became known as the "father of the personal newspaper column." This meant that people read "Sharps and Flats" just because they were interested in what Eugene had to say.

Eugene wrote many satirical articles about life in Chicago.

He nicknamed the city "Porkopolis," in reference to the many wealthy people in the city who made fortunes from meat packing. Eugene disliked the factory-filled, dirty city which seemed to be constantly under construction.

He also realized that while the salary he was offered at the Chicago Morning News would have made him rich in Denver, in Chicago it was not enough to support his large family. For many years the Fields, despite Eugene's fame, were on the brink of starvation.

However, Eugene's years in Chicago were the peak of his creativity. He published hundreds of poems and several books.

Most of his poems were about childhood and children - specifically his own children. Eugene's 1888 poem "Little Boy Blue," one of the most known poems even today, is based on the death of his son. His other most famous poem, "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" was written to entertain his children.

These many poems made Eugene famous as "The Poet of Childhood."

Ironically, Eugene hated the nickname. While Eugene loved being a father, he admitted he didn't like children that weren't his own. In fact, more than once he was caught making scary faces at children when he thought their parents weren't looking.

The Death of Eugene Field

Statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod in Denver's Washington Park

By 1895, things appeared to be going well for Eugene and his family.

His books and columns had begun to earn him real money, and for the first time in years the Fields enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle. They were able to move into a much larger house, and Eugene began collecting beautiful rare books with his extra income.

He was an in demand speaker, and was invited around the United States and Europe to read his poems and give speeches. Eugene started writing his autobiography in 1894, and continued working on it through 1895.

In November of 1895, Eugene was invited to give a reading of his work in Kansas City. Eugene ended up postponing the trip until later in the week, as he was not feeling well.

The night before Eugene was scheduled to leave for Kansas City, his fourteen-year-old son heard Eugene groaning and went to check on him. He was shocked to find his father dead.

Doctors determined that Eugene had lived for many years with an undiagnosed heart condition, which led to his completely unexpected death. Eugene was only forty-five, and had children ranging from ages nineteen to just under a year old.

The world was horrified and saddened to learn of Eugene's death, and the Chicago Morning News wrote "All the children of the land mourn their laureate."

Eugene inspired countless memorials throughout the United States.

In Denver, Eugene Field's house in Washington Park is on the Register of Historic Places. A statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, inspired by Eugene's poem of the same name, stands in Washington Park.

The Eugene Field Library in Washington Park and the Eugene Field apartment building on Denver's Poet's Row are named in his honor as well.

Eugene Field has been one of the most recognized names in poetry for over one hundred years, and his many poems about and for children are still read and loved today.

Word Bank

Dred Scott Case – In 1857, a black slave named Dred Scott sued the United States government for his freedom since he had moved with his master from a state where slavery was legal to a state where it was illegal. The Supreme Court rejected the case because they claimed slaves were not U.S. citizens and could not have their cases heard by the Supreme Court. Many people were angered by the Supreme Court's decision, and historians believe the Dred Scott Case helped lead to the Civil War that broke out between slave owning and non-slave owning states in 1861.

notorious – famous or well known, especially for a bad reason

practical joke – a trick played on others to make them look foolish

outrageous – bold, unusual, or startling

inspiration – the person or thing that motivates another person to creative action

satirize – using irony and exaggeration to draw attention to issues in society

circulate – to move from place to place and person to person

satirical – a creative work that uses satire (see 'satirize' definition above)

undiagnosed - a disease or condition not identified by a doctor

laureate - someone who has special recognition as being the best at what they do, especially in poetry or the arts

Get Thinking!
  • How do you think the Denver Eugene Field lived in during the 1880s is different from Denver today? How might it be the same?
  • Have you ever read a poem by Eugene Field? What did you like about it? What didn't you like?
  • Eugene Field used satire in much of his writing (see definition above!). What would you write satire about in your daily life?

More Eugene Field Information

At the Denver Public Library
Books By Eugene Field at the Denver Public Library
Books about Eugene Field at the Denver Public Library
Around the Web

Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)