When I was a Boy by Eugene Field
The speaker recalls sleeping as a small boy in an attic, where moonlight entered through a lattice and filled his trundle-bed with dreams. The moonlit visions seemed prophetic, offering bright glimpses of a future in which manhood called to him, a prospect that then appeared his sweetest dream. Now weary from the crosses and griefs of later years, he longs to sleep in that childhood room again, hoping the moon’s dreams could restore the peace he has not known since boyhood.
By Eugene Field · First published 1894 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry, Childhood Poetry · 300 words
First lines
Up in the attic where I slept / When I was a boy, a little boy, / In through the lattice the moonlight crept, / Bringing a tide of dreams that swept / Over the low, red trundle-bed, / Bathing the tangled curly head, / While moonbeams played at hide-and-seek / With the dimples on the sun-browned cheek -- / When I was a boy, a little boy!
And oh! the dreams -- the dreams I dreamed! / When I was a boy, a little boy! / For the grace that through the lattice streamed / Over my folded eyelids seemed / To have the gift of prophecy, / And to bring me glimpses of times to be / When manhood's clarion seemed to call -- / Ah! _that_ was the sweetest dream of all, / When I was a boy, a little boy!
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, musical, first-person poem focused on personal feeling, imagery, repetition, and emotional reflection rather than narrative action.
- Nostalgic Poetry — It looks back longingly on childhood sleep, moonlit dreams, and a lost sense of peace, contrasting them with the speaker's weary adulthood.
- Childhood Poetry — The central subject is the speaker's experience as a young boy, including his attic bed, imaginative dreams, and desire to recover childhood comfort.
- Reflective Poetry — The speaker meditates on time, maturation, grief, memory, and the emotional distance between childhood hopes and adult life.
Tags
childhood nostalgia · boyhood memories · attic bedroom · trundle bed · moonlight · lattice window · dreams · sleep · nighttime · memory · passage of time · lost innocence
What this Textopian page supports
When I was a Boy 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: Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry, Childhood Poetry, Reflective Poetry, Sentimental Poetry
- Length: 300 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for When I was a Boy 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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