Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one nightSailed off in a wooden shoe,--Sailed on a river of crystal lightInto 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-fishThat 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 longRuffled the waves of dew;The little stars were the herring-fishThat 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 threwTo 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 seemedAs if it could not be;And some folk thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamedOf 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 skiesIs a wee one’s trundle-bed;So shut your eyes while Mother singsOf wonderful sights that be,And you shall see the beautiful thingsAs you rock on the misty seaWhere the old shoe rocked the fishermen three,Wynken,Blynken,And Nod.
Words in this poem
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/wynken-blynken-and-nod.html, id L25167.
Form and metre
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod is 48 lines in 4 stanzas of 12 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 ABABCDCDDEE- nightA · shoeB · lightA · dewB · wishC · threeD · fishC · seaD · weD · wynkenE · blynkenE · nod
- 2 ABABCDCDDEE- songA · shoeB · longA · dewB · fishC · seaD · wishC · weD · threeD · wynkenE · blynkenE · nod
- 3 ABABCDCDDEE- threwA · foamB · shoeA · homeB · seemedC · beD · dreamedC · seaD · threeD · wynkenE · blynkenE · nod
- 4 ABABCDCDDEE- eyesA · headB · skiesA · bedB · singsC · beD · thingsC · seaD · threeD · wynkenE · blynkenE · nod
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night | 8 | ········ |
| Sailed off in a wooden shoe,-- | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Sailed on a river of crystal light | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Into a sea of dew. | 6 | ······ |
| “Where are you going, and what do you wish?” | 9 | ···/····· |
| The old moon asked the three. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| “We have come to fish for the herring-fish | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That live in this beautiful sea; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Nets of silver and gold have we,” | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Said Wynken, | 3 | ··· |
| Blynken, | 2 | ·· |
| And Nod. | 2 | ·· |
| The old moon laughed and sang a song, | 8 | ········ |
| As they rocked in the wooden shoe; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the wind that sped them all night long | 9 | ········· |
| Ruffled the waves of dew; | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| The little stars were the herring-fish | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| That lived in the beautiful sea. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| “Now cast your nets wherever you wish,-- | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Never afeard are we!” | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| So cried the stars to the fishermen three, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Wynken, | 2 | ·· |
| Blynken, | 2 | ·· |
| And Nod. | 2 | ·· |
| All night long their nets they threw | 7 | ······· |
| To the stars in the twinkling foam,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bringing the fishermen home: | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| ’Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| As if it could not be; | 6 | ······ |
| And some folk thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed | 9 | ········· |
| Of sailing that beautiful sea; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| But I shall name you the fishermen three: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Wynken, | 2 | ·· |
| Blynken, | 2 | ·· |
| And Nod. | 2 | ·· |
| Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And Nod is a little head, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Is a wee one’s trundle-bed; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| So shut your eyes while Mother sings | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of wonderful sights that be, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And you shall see the beautiful things | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As you rock on the misty sea | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Wynken, | 2 | ·· |
| Blynken, | 2 | ·· |
| And Nod. | 2 | ·· |
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