Poem by Eugene Field

The Sugar-Plum Tree

HAVE you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?
'Tis a marvel of great renown!
It blooms on the shore of the Lollypop 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 ginger bread 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 a terrible zest
That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,
As her swelling proportions attest.
And the chocolate cat goes covorting around
From this leafy limb unto that,
And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground-
Hurray for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes
With striping of scarlet and 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 the Sugar-Plum Tree
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

1. Mary Smith
2. A Paraphrase
3. Two Valentines
4. Mother and Sphinx
5. My Playmates

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