On the Brighter Side
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Bedtime Stories
“Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe–
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.”
So begins a bedtime poem written by Eugene Field who enjoyed his boyhood years in St. Louis, MO. A museum exists in what had once been his home. His father was a lawyer and was instrumental in the famous Dred Scott trial.
Do the children of today enjoy bedtime stories? I hope so as it is a lovely way to end their day as they are nestled in their little beds while a parent reads to them before the children fall asleep. Often requests are made for “one more verse or one more chapter, please, please” so another nursery rhyme is recited or sung, or one more chapter read from one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, or maybe a visit to Narnia.
Such pleasant memories are implanted, then repeated years later as the children, now parents, read to their children.
The last verse in the poem seen in the introduction of this article reveals the identity of the fisherman three.
“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.”
Then off to sleep and sweet dreams.
Eugene Field wrote many poems for children, Not all of them were as peaceful as this one. For instance we have “The Duel” which involves a fight between the gingham dog and the calico cat. A sad story is revealed in “Little Boy Blue” as his toys wait for the return of the little boy who has died.
I hope parents are still spending the last minutes of each day at the bedside of their children reading a bedtime story. There are so many wonderful poems, songs, stories and prayers to share with them before it is
“Nighty night. Sleep tight. See you in the morning light.”
ZZZ…
-MG