Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

Wynken, Blynken and Nod by Mabel Landrum Torrey, 1918, formerly a fountain in Washington Park, Denver^[1]

"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" is a popular poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field and published on March 9, 1889. The original title was "Dutch Lullaby". The poem is a fantasy bed-time story about three children sailing and fishing among the stars from a boat which is a wooden shoe. The names suggest a sleepy child's blinking eyes and nodding head.

Text

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe —
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!"
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea —
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish —
Never afraid are we";
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam —
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
'Twas all so pretty a sail
 it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea —
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Musical adaptations

By 1890, the lyrics had been set to music, by American pianist and composer Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin.

About 70 years later, songwriter Lucy Simon wrote a setting (she claimed it was "the first song I ever wrote")^[2] that has been recorded by many artists, including: herself with her sister Carly as the Simon Sisters, released as a single and on album in 1964; The Big 3 featuring Cass Elliot (1963); The Irish Rovers on their album The Life of the Rover (1969); Roger Whittaker on his children's album The Magical World of Roger Whittaker (1975);^[3] Joanie Bartels, on her album "Lullaby Magic" (1985); Canadian children's entertainer Fred Penner on his album The Cat Came Back (1979) ^[4]; and The Doobie Brothers for the children's music compilation In Harmony (1980).

Donovan sang his own musical setting on his children's album H.M.S. Donovan (1971).^[5] Buffy Saint-Marie wrote and sang her own version on Sesame Street in 1975, and on her album Sweet America (1976). Kevin Roth created his own version for his album Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep(1996) ^[6], and composer Christopher Klaich set a contemporary lullaby concert setting for soprano Bianca Showalter which has either piano or chamber orchestral accompaniment. Composer Stephen DeCesare composed an SATB version of the popular poem. Tatiana Cameron sings her own version on her lullaby album A Chance to Dream. Valentine Wolfe released a heavy metal version in their album A Child's Bestiary (2016).^[7] Producer David Bernard Wolf set the poem for the Barney & Friends 1995 album Barney's Sleepytime Songs.

References in other artistic works

• American sculptor Mabel Landrum Torrey created "Wynken, Blynken and Nod Fountain", dedicated in 1919 in Denver's Washington Park. ^[8]
• In 1938 Walt Disney Productions released an eight minute cartoon, Wynken, Blynken and Nod, which stylized the fishermen of the poem as three pajama-clad children playing among the stars. ^[9]
• In Alfred Bester's 1953 novel The Demolished Man, police detective Lincoln Powell's three psychic secretaries are nicknamed Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
• the names "Harry, Mark and John" appeared as "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" on two 1970 demos recorded by Velvet Underground on the song "Satellite of Love" written by Lou Reed. ^{[10] [11]}
• In 1971, Weston Woods based a cartoon on the poem.
• Three of the original Dreadnoks in the 1984 G.I. Joe Marvel comic books are named Tom Winken (Torch), Richard Blinken-Smythe (Buzzer), and Harry Nod (Ripper).
• This poem is recited by Martha Wilson (Joan Plowright) in the 1993 film Dennis The Menace.
• Three Corgis in the 2006 young adult book Minerva Clark Goes to the Dogs by Karen Karbo are named Winkin', Blinkin', and Ned.
• In AMC's 2016 TV Series Preacher the musical rendition of "Wynken, Bynken, and Nod" is stated to be "favorite" song of the entity Genesis.^[12] The character DeBanc, played by Anatol Yusef, sings excerpts from the poem to Genesis in two episodes throughout the first season.^[13][14]
• Shel Silverstein created a poem, "Ickle me, Pickle me, Tickle me too" who went for a ride in a flying shoe.
• The New York Times crossword puzzle for Sunday, June 17, 2018, featured the poem's title as an answer (64A and part of 45D).^[15]

Notes

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

External links

• Read the poem on www.famouspoetsandpoems.com
• The Wellsboro, PA Chamber of Commerce - History of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
• The Denver Park People - Wynken, Blynken & Nod Sculpture
• A Little Book of Western Verse
• Disney's Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
• Text of Wynken, Blynken and Nod with Maxfield Parrish illustration
• Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, Knox College's children's and young adult literary publication
• Books and Posters of Wynken, Blynken & Nod
• The Duel, aka The Gingham Dog and The Calico Cat hear song version of the poem