The Sugar-Plum Tree by Eugene Field (1904) Have you ever heard of

The Sugar-Plum Tree by Eugene Field (1904)

Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?

‘T is a marvel of great renown!

It blooms on the shore of the Lollipop 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 gingerbread 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 terrible zest

That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,

As her swelling proportions attest.

And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around

From this leafy limb unto that,

And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground–

Hurrah for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes,

With stripings of scarlet or 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 that Sugar-Plum Tree

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

The Jumblies by Edward Lear (1871)

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,

   In a Sieve they went to sea:

In spite of all their friends could say,

On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day,

   In a Sieve they went to sea!

And when the Sieve turned round and round,

And every one cried, “You’ll all be drowned!”

They called aloud, “Our Sieve ain’t big,

But we don’t care a button! we don’t care a fig!

   In a Sieve we’ll go to sea!”

      Far and few, far and few,

         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

         And they went to sea in a Sieve.

They sailed in a Sieve, they did,

   In a Sieve they sailed so fast,

With only a beautiful pea-green veil

Tied with a ribbon by way of a sail,

   To a small tobacco-pipe mast;

And every one said, who saw them go,”

0 won’t they be soon upset, you know!

For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,

And happen what may, it’s extremely wrong

   In a Sieve to sail so fast!”

      Far and few, far and few,

         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

         And they went to sea in a Sieve.

The water it soon came in, it did,

   The water it soon came in;

So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet

In a pinky paper all folded neat,

   And they fastened it down with a pin.

And they passed the night in a crockery-jar,

And each of them said, “How wise we are!

Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long,

Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong,

   While round in our Sieve we spin!”

      Far and few, far and few,

         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

         And they went to sea in a Sieve.

And all night long they sailed away;

   And when the sun went down,

They whistled and warbled a moony song

To the echoing sound of a coppery gong,

   In the shade of the mountains brown.

“0 Timballo! How happy we are,

When we live in a sieve and a crockery-jar,

And all night long in the moonlight pale,

We sail away with a pea-green sail,

   In the shade of the mountains brown!”

      Far and few, far and few,

         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

         And they went to sea in a Sieve.

They sailed to the Western Sea, they did,

   To a land all covered with trees,

And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart,

And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart,

   And a hive of silvery Bees.

And they bought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws,

And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws,

And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree,

   And no end of Stilton Cheese.

      Far and few, far and few,

         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

         And they went to sea in a Sieve.

And in twenty years they all came back,

   In twenty years or more,

And everyone said, “How tall they’ve grown!

For they’ve been to the Lakes, and the Torrible Zone,

   And the hills of the Chankly Bore”;

And they drank their health, and gave them a feast

Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast;

And every one said, “If we only live,

We too will go to sea in a Sieve,–

   To the hills of the Chankly Bore!”

      Far and few, far and few,

         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

         And they went to sea in a Sieve.

The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash (1935)

Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I’ll eat you!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry.
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.
Once in a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.
The witch’s face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch’s gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I’ll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry,
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.
Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self reliant.
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forhead.
Good morning, Isabel, the giant said,
I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She nibled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant’s head off.
Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor’s talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor’s satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

Citations: 

Field, Eugene, and Fern Bisel Peat. The Sugar-plum Tree and Other Verses. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 2010.

Lear, Edward, and Edward Gorey. The Jumblies. New York: Young Scott Books, 1968.

Nash, Ogden, and James Marshall. The Adventures of Isabel. Boston: Joy Street Books, 1991.

EXPLANATION ANALYSIS AND DEFENSE PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

3 page (750-1000 words)

(explanation, analysis,
defense) to this set of poems.

Don’t waste time telling me what I already know (such as the definitions of poetic
terms). Your E-A-D is intended to illustrate the literary quality and appropriateness of the
set of poems for an anthology of narrative verses. It must address, though not necessarily equally, the following issues:

Explanation and Analysis:

Why is this set of poems appropriate for child readers? both in the sense of
being acceptable on moral, ethical, and/or age-appropriate grounds, and in terms of
appealing to children. Please use specifics about the poems to support your argument.
Don’t just rely on the obvious and useless observation that the poems deal with issues
that children are experiencing or that they address issues that children are interested in,
or that they are by authors that children like. You need to delve beneath the obvious
and address what in each poem that will appeal to your readers.

Analysis and Defense:

What makes these poems quality works of literature (and perhaps,
significant works)? You will need to discuss how the poems use poetic devices (or
elements) and structures effectively to convey their messages; in other words, how they
function AS poetry. Your purpose is not to give me a laundry list of the poems’
characteristics; it is to focus on those characteristics that make the poems quality pieces
of literature and to argue how they do so. Some research might be useful here as might
things like book reviews. Again, I want to see specifics about your poems. Don’t just say
that the images are nice, or that the rhyme is musical, or that the theme is interesting.
Interrogate the poem and your understanding of it in order to write an analysis that is
really useful.
This introduction does not require the use of secondary sources, but if you need to use them,
please do.
The purpose of this Paper is to analyze your poems, or if you will, to defend them, in
order to illustrate two things: (1) that you are qualified to be an editor of an anthology because
you understand poetry and (2) that you understand your audience and their tastes. This is the
place to show me that you understand this genre: poetry for young adults.