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Eugene Field

September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895

Inducted in 2016

Poems

At the Door

Armenian Lullaby

Ashes on the Slide

Ballad of the Jelly-Cake

Bambino (Corsican Lullaby)

Beard and Baby

Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-me-Not

Christmas Eve

Christmas Treasures

Cobbler and Stork

The Cunnin' Little Thing

The Dinkey-Bird

The Duel

Father's Letter

The Fire-Hangbird's Nest

The First Christmas Tree, 1912

Ganderfeather's Gift

Garden and Cradle

Gold and Love for Dearie, Cornish Lullaby

Hi-Spy

In the Firelight

Jest 'fore Christmas

Jewish Lullaby

Kissing Time

To a Little Brook

Little Boy Blue

Little Croodlin' Doo

Little Mistress Sans-Merci

Lollyby, Lolly, Lollyby

Long Ago

Marcus Varro, on a Roman book-lover

To Mary Field French

Morning Song

The Night Wind

Norse Lullaby

Oh, Little Child (Sicilian Lullaby)

The Peace of Christmas-Time

Pittypat and Tippytoe

Rock-a-by-Lady

Seein' Things

The Sugar Plum Tree

Telling the Bees, The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893

A Valentine

With Trumpet and Drum

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, Dutch Lullaby

The Dream Ship

Not so, however, with books, for books cannot change. A thousand years hence they are what you find them to-day, speaking the same words, holding forth the same cheer, the same promise, the same comfort; always constant, laughing with those who laugh and weeping with those who weep.” from The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac

For fifty dollars a week, the Chicago Morning News lured popular newspaper columnist Eugene Field to relocate from Denver. In 1883, Field was already widely known, and his new column, Sharps and Flats, would continue his reputation for humorous essays. Living near the intersection of North Clarendon and West Hutchinson in the Buena Park neighborhood, Field chided current events and people, often in the arts and literature, and made a habit of criticizing his new city’s materialism. He called Chicago, “Porkopolis.” Soon, Field’s production of children’s verse increased, and his audience broadened. Field’s first poetry publication was in 1879, and more than a dozen volumes followed. Though Field’s intended audience appeared to be largely adults, his nostalgic recollections of growing up earned him the nickname “Poet of Childhood.” He also wrote a substantial number of short stories. Field died of a heart attack in Chicago at the age of 45, and is buried at Kenilworth’s Church of the Holy Comforter. The Eugene Field Memorial in the Lincoln Park Zoo features “Dream Lady,” an Edwin Francis McCartan sculpture based on the poem, “The Rock-a-By Lady from Hush-a-By Street.” The granite base depicts scenes from other Field poems, including “The Fly Away Horse” and “Seein Things.” His famous “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” as well as parts of “The Sugar Plum Tree” are carved into the sides. Other local memorials include an Albany Park field house named after the writer; Chicago, Elmhurst, Park Ridge, Wheeling, Rock Island and Normal elementary schools bearing his name; and Field Park in Oak Park.

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