This is a statue to honor Wynken, Blynken and Nod, a memorial to Denver poet Eugene Field who on March 9, 1889, wrote "Dutch Lullaby" depicting three children who "one night sailed off in a wooden shoe of crystal light." Not too far from the statue is a small white-frame cottage which was the home of Field during his residence in Denver, 1881-1883. The house was purchased for the city by Mrs. J.J. Brown and moved to Washington Park. It is now the home of The Parks People, a non-profit organization.
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 the beautiful sea.
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish,—
Never afeard 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 folk 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 on the misty sea
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three,
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
This prize-winning sculpture by Mabel Landrum Torry was commissioned in 1918 by Denver Mayor Robert W. Speer. The sculpture originally sat in the middle of a fountain in Washington Park. The Park People (www.theparkpeople.com) restored the sculpture and relocated it next to The Park People's offices at the Eugene Field House in Washington Park.