It's been awhile...

I have slacked on my blogging, and I willingly pass the blame off to grading research papers. But on Thursday, I handed back my last set to my students, so I am free (relatively) until the final drafts start coming in! April has been going well, and yesterday was a highlight when my freshmen finished their poetry unit and brought in poetry journals to share. I always like doing this because I am introduced or re-introduced to some favorite poetry. Here is a wonderful children's poem by Eugene Field. It puts a smile on my face, even on a gloomy April day as today.


"The Sugar-Plum Tree"
Eugene Field


Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?
'Tis a marvel of great renown!
It blooms on the shore of the Lollipop sea
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town;
The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet
(As those who have tasted it say)
That good little children have only to eat
Of that fruit to be happy next day.

When you 've got to the tree, you would have a hard time
To capture the fruit which I sing;
The tree is so tall that no person could climb
To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!
But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,
And a gingerbread dog prowls below--
And this is the way you contrive to get at
Those sugar-plums tempting you so:

You say but the word to that gingerbread dog
And he barks with such terrible zest
That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,
As her swelling proportions attest.
And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around
From this leafy limb unto that,
And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground--
Hurrah for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes,
With stripings of scarlet or gold,
And you carry away of the treasure that rains
As much as your apron can hold!
So come, little child, cuddle closer to me
In your dainty white nightcap and gown,
And I 'll rock you away to that Sugar-Plum Tree
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.


This picture has nothing to do with the sugar-plum tree, but it's a nice recent picture of my sisters and me.