Little-Oh-Dear by Eugene Field
The speaker lovingly describes a fantastical garden made for Little-Oh-Dear, filled with unusually colored flowers, brown grass, and a cactus trailing over trellis and wall. All the flowers seem to welcome her when she enters. A silver bird in a lavender-tree continually sings, “I love you,” and its echo returns the same message from Little-Oh-Dear. Even if the garden fades and the bird flies away, the speaker treasures the more lasting garden within his heart, where Little-Oh-Dear’s presence makes it eternally summer.
By Eugene Field · First published 1894 · Genre: Children's Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry · 282 words
First lines
See, what a wonderful garden is here, / Planted and trimmed for my Little-Oh-Dear! / Posies so gaudy and grass of such brown -- / Search ye the country and hunt ye the town / And never ye'll meet with a garden so queer / As this one I've made for my Little-Oh-Dear!
Marigolds white and buttercups blue, / Lilies all dabbled with honey and dew, / The cactus that trails over trellis and wall, / Roses and pansies and violets -- all / Make proper obeisance and reverent cheer / When into her garden steps Little-Oh-Dear.
Similar titles
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- In The Garden by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Roses And Lilies by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Nay But I Fancy Somehow Year By Year by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Three Years Old by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- O Lady Fair And Sweet by Robert Louis Stevenson
Genres
- Children's Poetry — The poem uses affectionate address, fanciful imagery, simple musical phrasing, and a child-centered subject, fitting Eugene Field's well-known tradition of verse for children.
- Lyric Poetry — It is a short, songlike expression of personal feeling, structured through rhythm, repetition, rhyme, and the recurring declaration of love.
- Love Poetry — The speaker celebrates profound tenderness for Little-Oh-Dear, framing the garden and its eternal summertime as symbols of enduring love.
- Pastoral Poetry — Its imaginative setting is an idealized garden filled with flowers, birds, trees, and perpetual summer, drawing on pastoral natural imagery.
Tags
children's poetry · lyric poem · fantasy garden · childhood · parental love · affection · devotion · imagination · flowers · marigolds · buttercups · roses
What this Textopian page supports
Little-Oh-Dear is listed on Textopian as a poem by Eugene Field, dated 1894 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Eugene Field
- Date: 1894 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Children's Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Nonsense Verse
- Length: 282 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Little-Oh-Dear by Eugene Field
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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