(Poem #967) Wynken, Blynken, and Nod A Dutch Lullaby
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 afeared 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.
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I was introduced to "The Children's Poet", Eugene Field at a Very Young Age,
when I got a book with beautifully illustrated copies of 'The Duel' and
'Wynken, Blynken and Nod'. Even more than the illustrations, though, it was
the words that fired my imagination - I would lie awake at night picturing a
world inhabited with Gingham Dogs, Calico Cats, and, of course, three little
fishermen sailing the skies in a trundle bed, alongside other favourites
like Stevenson's "Land of Counterpane" and boys and girls Coming Out to
Play.
Rereading the poem with an older and more critical eye, I'm happy to say
that it's lost little of its magic. The images are beautiful as ever, and if
they no longer catch my imagination with quite the immersiveness and realism
that they did in my childhood, I am better able to appreciate them for the
sheer beauty of phrases like "sailed on a river of crystal light/ into a sea
of dew" and the delightful aptness of "the little stars were the herring
fish that sailed in the twinkling sea". I can see the difference between
"Wynken, Blynken and Nod" and, as the poem had it,
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod
And above all, I can appreciate Field's mastery of the (far more difficult
than it looks) art of children's poetry, and see just why he has taken his
place among the immortals of that genre.
Links:
There's an extensive collection of Field's work at
http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco/literature/eugenefield/menu.html
An excellent biography: [broken link] http://empirezine.com/spotlight/field/field1.htm
"Boys and Girls Come Out to Play":
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/motherg12.html
The Land of Counterpane: http://www.bartleby.com/188/117.html
- martin
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