Eugene Field

Sept. 2, 1850 - Nov. 4, 1895

 

First Lines of Eugene Field

As I was going to Bethlehem-town,Dearest, how hard it is to sayFather calls me William, sister calls me Will,From out Cologne there came three kingsGod rest you, Chrysten gentil men,Have you ever heard the wind go Yooooo?Ho, pretty bee, did you see my croodlin' doo?I count my treasures o'er with care, --I once knew all the birds that cameLast night, whiles that the curfew bell ben ringing,Little Mistress Sans-MerciOh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,On afternoons, when baby boy has had a splendid nap,Once upon a time the forest was in a great commotion.Out on the mountain over the town,Sing, Christmas bells!Star of the East, that long agoStork, I am justly wroth,'T is when the lark goes soaringThe angel host that sped last night,The bells in the city are ringing merrily,The fire upon the hearth is low,The Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby streetThis is to tell of our little Mistress Merciless, who for a season abided with us, but is now and forever gone from us unto the far-off land of Ever-Plaisance.What do you see up there, O pine-tree?When our babe he goeth walking in his garden,Whilst you were sleeping, little Dear-my-Soul, strange things happened; but that I saw and heard them, I should never have believed them.WHIRR-R-R! whirr-r-r! whirr-r-r! said the wind, and it tore through the streets of the city that Christmas eve, turning umbrellas inside out, driving the snow in fitful gusts before it, creaking the rusty signs and shutters, and playing every kind of rude prank it could think of.Why do the bells of Christmas ring?With big tin trumpet and little red drum,Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one nightYou 're not so big as you were then,