The Dinkey-Bird by Eugene Field
The poem imagines Wonder-Wander, a land across an ocean where children happily play and where sweets grow abundantly: gum-drops like cherries, taffy thick as peas, caramels like berries, and sugar-plums on cliffs by the sea. In an amfalula tree, the Dinkey-Bird sings music filled with sweet bravuras, staccatos, roulades, appoggiaturas, and robustos. His song seems to accompany children’s laughter and carefree play, bringing brightness to their eyes, lightness to their hearts, and color to their cheeks. The speaker invites the listener’s dreams to fly to this sweet-filled land to visit the Dinkey-Bird.
By Eugene Field · First published 1891 · Genre: Children's Poetry, Nonsense Verse, Fantasy Poetry · 423 words
First lines
In an ocean, 'way out yonder / (As all sapient people know), / Is the land of Wonder-Wander, / Whither children love to go; / It's their playing, romping, swinging, / That give great joy to me / While the Dinkey-Bird goes singing / In the amfalula tree!
There the gum-drops grow like cherries, / And taffy's thick as peas -- / Caramels you pick like berries / When, and where, and how you please; / Big red sugar-plums are clinging / To the cliffs beside that sea / Where the Dinkey-Bird is singing / In the amfalula tree.
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Genres
- Children's Poetry — The poem directly celebrates children's play, laughter, imagination, and delight through accessible rhyme, rhythmic stanzas, and fanciful imagery.
- Nonsense Verse — Its invented names and words, including the Dinkey-Bird, amfalula tree, and Wonder-Wander, create a playful, illogical fantasy world characteristic of nonsense literature.
- Fantasy Poetry — The poem imagines a distant land where candy grows naturally, a marvelous bird sings, and children's dreams can travel across the sea.
- Nursery Rhyme — Its musical repetition, simple rhyme scheme, whimsical subject matter, and child-oriented tone resemble traditional nursery rhymes.
Tags
children's poetry · nonsense verse · fantasy land · Wonder-Wander · imaginary island · ocean setting · childhood · play · carefree joy · children's laughter · dreams · birdsong
What this Textopian page supports
The Dinkey-Bird is listed on Textopian as a poem by Eugene Field, dated 1891 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: 1891 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Children's Poetry, Nonsense Verse, Fantasy Poetry, Nursery Rhyme, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 423 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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