Christmas Treasures
I count my treasures o'er with care.--The little toy my darling knew,A little sock of faded hue,A little lock of golden hair.
Long years ago this holy time,My little one--my all to me--Sat robed in white upon my kneeAnd heard the merry Christmas chime.
"Tell me, my little golden-head,If Santa Claus should come to-night,What shall he bring my baby bright,--What treasure for my boy?" I said.
And then he named this little toy,While in his round and mournful eyesThere came a look of sweet surprise,That spake his quiet, trustful joy.
And as he lisped his evening prayerHe asked the boon with childish grace;Then, toddling to the chimney-place,He hung this little stocking there.
That night, while lengthening shadows crept,I saw the white-winged angels comeWith singing to our lowly homeAnd kiss my darling as he slept.
They must have heard his little prayer,For in the morn, with rapturous face,He toddled to the chimney-place,And found this little treasure there.
They came again one Christmas-tide,--That angel host, so fair and white!And singing all that glorious night,They lured my darling from my side.
A little sock, a little toy,A little lock of golden hair,The Christmas music on the air,A watching for my baby boy!
But if again that angel trainAnd golden-head come back for me,To bear me to Eternity,My watching will not be in vain!
Words in this poem
- sock n.
- A plowshare. Edin. Encyc. [F. soc, LL. soccus, perhaps of Celtic origin.]
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- trustful a.
- Full of trust; trusting.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Christmas Treasures is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Christmas Treasures, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/christmas-treasures.html, id L24641.
Form and metre
Christmas Treasures is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBA careA · knewB · hueB · hairA
- 2 ABBA timeA · meB · kneeB · chimeA
- 3 ABBA headA · nightB · brightB · saidA
- 4 ABBA toyA · eyesB · surpriseB · joyA
- 5 ABBA prayerA · graceB · placeB · thereA
- 6 ABBA creptA · comeB · homeB · sleptA
- 7 ABBA prayerA · faceB · placeB · thereA
- 8 ABBA tideA · whiteB · nightB · sideA
- 9 ABBA toyA · hairB · airB · boyA
- 10 A--A trainA · me · eternity · vainA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I count my treasures o'er with care.-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The little toy my darling knew, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A little sock of faded hue, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A little lock of golden hair. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Long years ago this holy time, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| My little one--my all to me-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sat robed in white upon my knee | 8 | ········ |
| And heard the merry Christmas chime. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "Tell me, my little golden-head, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| If Santa Claus should come to-night, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What shall he bring my baby bright,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What treasure for my boy?" I said. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And then he named this little toy, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| While in his round and mournful eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There came a look of sweet surprise, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That spake his quiet, trustful joy. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And as he lisped his evening prayer | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He asked the boon with childish grace; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then, toddling to the chimney-place, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He hung this little stocking there. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That night, while lengthening shadows crept, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| I saw the white-winged angels come | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With singing to our lowly home | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| And kiss my darling as he slept. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They must have heard his little prayer, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For in the morn, with rapturous face, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He toddled to the chimney-place, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And found this little treasure there. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| They came again one Christmas-tide,-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That angel host, so fair and white! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And singing all that glorious night, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They lured my darling from my side. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A little sock, a little toy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A little lock of golden hair, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The Christmas music on the air, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A watching for my baby boy! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But if again that angel train | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And golden-head come back for me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To bear me to Eternity, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| My watching will not be in vain! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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