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✦ A Classic Poem ✦

Little Boy Blue

A poem by Eugene Field

A toy dog and a toy soldier wait faithfully, year after year, in the place where Little Boy Blue left them. A tender poem about love and remembering, best shared with older listeners.

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✦ The Poem ✦

Little Boy Blue

by Eugene Field, from Poems of Childhood (1904 collected edition). Public domain.

The little toy dog is covered with dust, But sturdy and staunch he stands; And the little toy soldier is red with rust, And his musket moulds in his hands. Time was when the little toy dog was new, And the soldier was passing fair; And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue Kissed them and put them there.

“Now, don’t you go till I come,” he said, “And don’t you make any noise!” So, toddling off to his trundle-bed, He dreamt of the pretty toys; And, as he was dreaming, an angel song Awakened our Little Boy Blue— Oh! the years are many, the years are long, But the little toy friends are true!

Aye, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand, Each in the same old place— Awaiting the touch of a little hand, The smile of a little face; And they wonder, as waiting the long years through In the dust of that little chair, What has become of our Little Boy Blue, Since he kissed them and put them there.

✦ About the Poem ✦

A Poem About Faithfulness

Eugene Field (1850–1895) was a Chicago newspaper columnist who became so loved for his verses about children that he was called “the Poet of Childhood.” Many of his poems are lullabies, written to be read softly at the end of the day.

This is not the Mother Goose “Little Boy Blue” who blows his horn. Field’s poem, first published in 1888, is a gentle elegy: the “angel song” means the little boy has died, and his toys keep waiting for him. Field himself lost children, and the poem has comforted grieving families for well over a century. Grown-ups may want to listen first and decide when it is right to share.

✦ Talk About It ✦

Questions to Share

  • What did Little Boy Blue tell his toys before he went to bed?
  • How do we know that many years have passed?
  • Why do you think the toys are called “true” and “faithful”?

✦ Keep Reading ✦

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