By Donna Manley

first became familiar with the poetry of Eugene Field as a child. My mother often read poems such as "The Duel", which featured a gingham dog and a calico cat, or "Little Boy Blue" to my sister and me. Because she respected writers, she always emphasized poets' names. Eugene Field was a name I knew well.

In later years, I read more of his work and came to know that the children's poetry he is well known for is only a small part of his creative output. Field, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, started his journalistic career in 1873 as a reporter for the St. Louis Evening Journal. For the next ten years, he held editorial jobs in St. Joseph, Missouri, St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver. In 1883 he began writing a popular witty column ("Sharps and Flats") for the Chicago Morning News, who hired him to write "what I please on any subject I please."

When I ran across "The Complete Tribune Printer", a collection of his Denver Tribune columns, I was hooked. The same Field who could spark the imagination of a child with his gentle and magical rhymes was also capable of very biting sarcasm. He had an outrageous sense of humor that was ahead of his time. I was convulsed when I read "The Coal Hod" (a coal-hod is a bucket for transporting and holding coal): "Oh, how nice and Black the Coal-Hod is! Run, children, Run quick and put your Little Fat hands in it. Mercy me, your Hands are as Black as the Coal-Hod now! Hark! Mamma is Coming. She will spank you when she finds your Hands so Dirty. Better go and Rub the Black Dirt off on the Wall Paper before she Comes." Similar advice is found in "Papa's Pipe": "Is it a Pipe? Yes, it is Papa's Pipe and it Has not been Cleaned out for Four months. It is full of Ashes and Spit. It would not Hurt the Pipe if you were to Take several good long Sucks at it."

Field's more well known poems are a departure from his humor such as this. Take a look at one of them:

"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod"

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 that beautiful sea--
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish--
Never afeard 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;
'T\was all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks 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.

This would be a delightful poem to read aloud to any child. I wondered about Field, how a man could feature incorrigible children in many of his Tribune columns and yet write such magical verse. Did he even have children himself? The answer is yes. Field was father to eight children. He did confess, in the autobiographical introduction to one of his books that "I do not love all children". A friend of his, Slason Thompson, noted about Field after his death: "He was forever scanning whatever lies hidden within the folds of the heart of childhood. He knew children through and through because he studied them from themselves and not from books. He associated with them on terms of the most intimate comradeship and wormed his way into their confidence with assiduous sympathy. Thus he became possessed of the inmost secrets of their childish joys and griefs and so became a literary philosopher of childhood".

Field's mother had died when he was only six, and the childrearing of Eugene and his brother, Roswell, was taken over by their father's niece. It was the elder Field's intention that both his sons study law, and it was to this end that the Field boys were well-educated. Field attended Williams College, Knox College and the Missouri State University. During his university education, he found that he had not even the slightest predilection for the law. In fact, the stage held a fascination for Field. He delighted in mimicry and was a comedian by instinct. He had inherited a deep, resonant voice from his father and this would be an asset to any actor.

Field's personal library numbered over 3,500 and he was "fond of the quaint and curious in every line". In his later years, he collected rare books. His passion was detailed in the posthumously-published "Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac". One of his poems in this book is as follows: "The Bibliomaniac's Bride" Prose for me when I wished for prose, Verse when to verse inclined,-- Forever bringing sweet repose To body, heart and mind. Oh, I should bind this priceless prize In bindings full and fine, And keep her where no human eyes Should see her charms, but mine!

As Field was considering his options at age nineteen, a turn of events kept him from the stage and from the field of law. Field's father died, and young Eugene came into an inheritance. Using this, he and his future brother-in-law went to Europe and traveled in France, Italy, Ireland and England for six months. Both boys were spendthrifts and their extravagant living reduced Field to keep wiring home for money. Finally the message "No funds available" was sent back from America. The two boys sold their newly-acquired souvenirs to finance their way home. Back in the States, penniless but full of high-spirited stories, young Field was forced to find a money-paying career quickly. Since he had contributed articles to school papers during his university days, he felt comfortable entering the world of journalism.

Through his traveling companion, Field met his future bride, a girl of sixteen. In 1873, he sent two letters to his fiancée providing advice on how to prepare for their impending wedding night, adding confidently, "Oh Julia, you know not what bliss is in store for you!" Family was important to Field and his marriage was a happy one. Perhaps Julia kept harmony in the relationship by watching over the finances. Field's salary was always paid straight to her, to keep from tempting the still-a-spendthrift Field. Field had a number of good friends and acquaintances, but in general he eschewed crowds and preferred to spend his time with his family.

It didn't bother him in the least to reveal that he believed "in ghosts, in witches and in fairies", nor to declare "I adore dolls". Field described himself thusly: "I am six feet in height; am of spare build, weigh 160 pounds, and have shocking taste in dress. But I like to have well-dressed people about me. My eyes are blue, my complexion pale, my face is shaven, and I incline to baldness." Of his wife, Field said "It is only when I look and see how young and fair and sweet my wife is that I have a good opinion of myself."

A prodigious writer, Field wrote several books of poetry (such as "A Little Book of Western Verse", "Love Songs of Childhood"), short stories, translations of Homer, even bawdy poems for gentlemen's clubs (published surreptitiously). Tragically, Field suffered from chronic ill health, which necessitated at one point a second sojourn to Europe that lasted just over a year. He died at the age of forty-five, in 1895. It is possible that, having died relatively young, he may not have realized his hope: "I believe that, if I live, I shall do my best literary work when I am a grandfather."

I'll end with another of Field's children's poems. This more somber poem never failed to bring a tear to my mother's eye as she read aloud to us, and we usually got an extra hug and squeeze after this one.

Sources for this article:
The Complete Tribune Primer, Eugene Field, 1901
Eugene Field vols 1-2, Slason Thompson, 1901
The Family Album of Favorite Poems, P. Edward Ernest, 1959
William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan D.N. Diedrich Collection
Eugene Field Papers 1873-1893