A favorite childhood poem: What is yours?

Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry.  1919.

Eugene Field. 1850–1895

5. Little Boy Blue

I’ve always liked this poem. Thought I’d share it.  I thought it was about growing up, but now I realize it’s about something else. But I still like it anyway. It was in a book of poems we used to have in my house growing up. Do you have a favorite poem? Maybe I was a more melancholy child than average. Maybe not, since it’s very famous. English: American writer, poet, literary critic, and editor Louis Untermeyer (1885-1977) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

THE little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and staunch he stands;
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!
Ay, 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.

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