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    Poets of Nature, Revelry, and Rhyme Nature, Revelry, and Rhyme    

Lesson 18: The Sugar Plum Tree

by Eugene Field

Performer: Librivox - Mary Anderson


Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?

'Tis a marvel of great renown!

It blooms on the shore of the Lollypop sea

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town;

The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet

(As those who have tasted it say)

That good little children have only to eat

Of that fruit to be happy next day.



When you've got to the tree, you would have a hard time

To capture the fruit which I sing;

The tree is so tall that no person could climb

To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!

But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,

And a gingerbread dog prowls below -

And this is the way you contrive to get at

Those sugar-plums tempting you so:



You say but the word to that gingerbread dog

And he barks with terrible zest

That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,

As her swelling proportions attest.

And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around

From this leafy limb unto that,

And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground -

Hurrah for that chocolate cat!



There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes,

With stripings of scarlet or gold,

And you carry away of the treasure that rains,

As much as your apron can hold!

So come, little child, cuddle closer to me

In your dainty white nightcap and gown,

And I'll rock you away to that Sugar-Plum Tree

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

    Poets of Nature, Revelry, and Rhyme Nature, Revelry, and Rhyme    

Lesson 18: The Sugar Plum Tree

by Eugene Field

Performer: Librivox - Mary Anderson

Directions

Study the poem for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read or listen to the poem.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Read about the poet.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Discuss the review questions.

Synopsis

The lovely Sugar-Plum Tree grows delicious sweets that make children happy. The tree is too tall for people to reach the candy. To get the candy, people must ask the gingerbread dog below the tree to bark, which scares the chocolate cat in the tree into knocking down the candy.

Vocabulary

Renown: Famous or well-known.
Wondrously: Amazingly or delightfully.
Boughs: Branches of a tree.
Contrive: Create or bring about an object or a situation by deliberate use of skill and artifice.
Zest: Great enthusiasm and energy.
Agog: Eager or curious to hear or see something.
Cavorting: Jumping or dancing around excitedly.

Concepts

  1. Eugene Field was born in 1850 in Saint Louis, Illinois. See his picture below.
  2. Zoom in and find Field's birth state of Illinois (IL) on the map of the continental United States.
  3. Field was afraid of the dark as a boy and hated studying. His mother died when he was six, and his father sent him to live on his cousin's farm.
  4. Field wrote his first poem on the farm about his cousin's dog, Fido.
  5. Field married young and had eight children, five of which survived beyond childhood.
  6. Field published poems beginning in 1879, when he was 29. One of his most famous poems is, 'Wynken, Blynken, and Nod'.
  7. Field died of a heart attack at the age of 45 in Chicago, Illinois.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Title, the Poet's Name, and the Poem

  • Each day this week, recite aloud the title of the poem, the name of the poet, and the poem.

Activity 2: Study the Poem Picture

  • Study the poem picture, and describe how it relates to the poem.

Activity 3: Narrate the Poem

  • After reading or listening to the poem, narrate the poem events aloud using your own words.

Activity 4: Color the Poem   

  • Click the crayon above, and complete page 20 of 'Poetry Coloring Pages for Second Grade.'

Review

Question 1

What is the title of the poem?
1 / 6

Answer 1

The title of the poem is 'The Sugar Plum Tree.'
1 / 6

Question 2

What is the name of the poet who wrote 'The Sugar Plum Tree?'
2 / 6

Answer 2

The name of the poet is Eugene Field.
2 / 6

Question 3

What happens in the poem?
3 / 6

Answer 3

The lovely Sugar-Plum Tree grows delicious sweets that make children happy. People must enlist the help of the chocolate cat and gingerbread dog to get the candy.
3 / 6

Question 4

Where does the poem take place?
4 / 6

Answer 4

The poem takes place in the garden of Shut-Eye Town on the shore of the Lollypop sea.
4 / 6

Question 5

Who are the characters in the poem?
5 / 6

Answer 5

The characters are the children, the chocolate cat, the gingerbread dog, and the narrator.
5 / 6

Question 6

Does the poem teach us anything?
6 / 6

Answer 6

The poem teaches us that sometimes you must be creative and enlist the help of others to achieve a goal.
6 / 6

  1. What is the title of the poem? The title of the poem is 'The Sugar Plum Tree.'
  2. What is the name of the poet who wrote 'The Sugar Plum Tree?' The name of the poet is Eugene Field.
  3. What happens in the poem? The lovely Sugar-Plum Tree grows delicious sweets that make children happy. People must enlist the help of the chocolate cat and gingerbread dog to get the candy.
  4. Where does the poem take place? The poem takes place in the garden of Shut-Eye Town on the shore of the Lollypop sea.
  5. Who are the characters in the poem? The characters are the children, the chocolate cat, the gingerbread dog, and the narrator.
  6. Does the poem teach us anything? The poem teaches us that sometimes you must be creative and enlist the help of others to achieve a goal.

References

  1. 'Eugene Field.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

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