WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD

Here is a one of my favorite children's poems written in 1889 by American writer and poet, Eugene Field. I used to sing this lullaby in the kindergarten while the children rested.  May you find your own wooden shoe and go fishing at night among the stars. I'll see you there in my dreams... 

WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD
    Eugene Field

​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 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;
'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed
     As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 't was 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 siled 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.

​Poem by Eugene Field, 1889
Needle Felted Illustrations by Christine Summerfield © May 16, 2020