"The Sugar-Plum Tree"

The Sugar-Plum Tree
by Eugene Field

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.

More Related Content:

• "The Sugar Plum Tree" read aloud by Sally Hamlin at The Library of Congress