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Little Boy Blue" is a poem by Eugene Field about the death of a child, a sentimental but beloved theme in 19th-century poetry. Contrary to popular belief, the poem is not about the death of Field's son, who died several years after its publication.
Little Boy Blue. By Mother Goose. Little boy blue, Come blow your horn, The sheep's in the meadow, The cow's in the corn. But where is the boy. Who looks after the sheep?
- Summary
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Detailed Analysis
- Stanza Two
- Similar Poetry
‘Little Boy Blue’ by Eugene Field is a simple, emotional poem about a deceased child’s toys waiting for him to come to play with them again. The poem opens with a description of the waiting toys, which, over the years, have grown moldy and rusty. They don’t know that the child has passed away and continue to wait for him to come back, pick them up,...
‘Little Boy Blue’ by Eugene Field is a three-stanza poem that is divided into equal stanzas of eight lines, known as octaves. These stanzas follow a simple and consistent rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD, and so on, changing end sounds from stanza to stanza. The poet also uses literary devices like repetition in order to further the feeling of rhyme and rh...
Throughout this poem, the poet makes use of a few different literary devices. They include: 1. Anaphora: the repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of multiple lines. For example, “The” which starts two lines in stanza one, and “And” which starts three more lines in the same stanza. 2. Alliteration: the repetition of the same conson...
Stanza One
This heartbreaking, incredibly emotional poem begins with a description of several children’s toys and the appearance they’ve developed since a child passed away. Toys are rusted and covered in dust, a toy soldier is holding a moldy musket in his hands, and much has changed since these toys were new and “fair.” They have not moved since “our Little Boy Blue” put them where they sit today. These first lines make it very clear that a child has passed away and that his parents, or a parent, have...
In the second stanza, the speaker describes the last moments in the child’s life and how he went to bed one night quite peacefully and normally. While the poem does not explicitly state what happened, it seems likely that the child passed away in his sleep. The poet does not indicate what the child suffered or what caused his death. The description...
Readers who enjoyed this poem might also like reading some other Eugene Field poems. For example: 1. ‘The Duel’ – tells the oddly amusing tale of the gingham dog and the calico cat. 2. ‘The Sugar-Plum Tree’ – depicts a specific tree and how children can get sweets from its branches. 3. ‘Wynken, Blynken, and Nod‘ – features three little kids who sai...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
May 13, 2011 · Read, review and discuss the Little Boy Blue poem by Eugene Field on Poetry.com.
- 900
- ABABCDCD EFEFGCGC HIHICDCD
- Iambic tetrameter
- 181
‘Little Boy Blue’ by Mother Goose is a classic rhyme of a dozing boy and his unwatched animals, mixing duty and dreams.
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Nov 27, 2018 · What does this curious little nursery rhyme mean, or is it an example of that genre of perennial appeal, nonsense verse? Little Boy Blue, Come blow your horn, The sheep’s in the meadow, The cow’s in the corn. But where is the boy Who looks after the sheep? He’s under a haystack, Fast asleep.
Jun 23, 2024 · Innocence and Nostalgia: The poem “Little Boy Blue” by Eugene Field evokes a sense of innocence and nostalgia through the imagery of the little boy’s toys. The “little toy dog” and “little toy soldier” (1, 2) symbolize a time of purity and simplicity, reminding the reader of the joys of childhood.
