Second Book of Verse

Eugene Field

Jan 1908 · University of Michigan Library

About the author

Eugene Field was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, September 2, 1850. He's an American writer, best known for poetry for children and for humorous essays. After the death of his mother he was raised by a cousin in Amherst, Massachusetts. Field briefly attended various colleges in Massachusetts and Missouri. He tried acting and studying law. He then set off for a trip through Europe only to return to the U.S. six months later penniless. Field then worked as a journalist for the Gazette in Saint Joseph, Missouri in 1875. The same year he married Julia Comstock. The couple had 8 children. Field soon rose to become city editor of the Gazette. From 1876 through 1880 Field lived in Saint Louis, where he was an editorial writer. He then took a job as managing editor of the Kansas City, Missouri Times, then from 1881 began two years as managing editor of the Tribune of Denver, Colorado. In 1883 he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he wrote a humorous newspaper column called Sharps & Flats for the Chicago Daily News. Field first started publishing poetry in 1879, when his book Christian Treasures appeared. Over a dozen more volumes followed, and he became well known for his light-hearted poems for children; perhaps the best known is "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod". Several of his poems were set to music with commercial success. Eugene Field died in Chicago at the age of 45. His former home in Saint Louis is now a museum. A memorial to him, a statue of the "Dream Lady" from his poem, "Rock-a-by-Lady" was erected in 1922 at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.