The Sugar-Plum Tree
by Eugene Field
Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree? ‘Tis 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 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 that Sugar-Plum Tree In the garden
of Shut-Eye Town.
