t your nets wherever you wish--
Never afeard are we";
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, 15
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, 20
Bringing the fishermen home;
"Twas 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: 5
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes:
And Nod is a little head, 10
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 15
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod. 20

FOOTNOTE:

[2] From "Poems of Childhood," published by Messrs. Charles Scribner's
Sons.

EUGENE FIELD

AMERICA, 1850-1895

The Night Wind[3]

Have you ever heard the wind go "Yoooo"?
'Tis a pitiful sound to hear!
It seems to chill you through and through
With a strange and speechless fear.
'Tis the voice of the night that broods outside 5
When folks should be asleep,
And many and many's the time I've cried
To the darkness brooding far and wide
Over the land and the deep:
"Whom do you want, O lonely night, 10
That you wail the long hours through?"
And the night would say in its ghostly way:
"Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo!" 15

My mother told me long ago
(When I was a little lad)