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HOOSIER
LYRICS

BY

EUGENE FIELD

AUTHOR OF

THE CLINK OF THE ICE, JOHN SMITH,
U. S. A., IN WINK-A-WAY-LAND, ETC.

M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY

CHICAGO, ILL.

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SELECTED WORKS of
EUGENE FIELD

Uniform with this volume

Four volumes, boxed, $3.00
Single volumes, 75 cents, postpaid

M. A. DONOHUE & CO.
701-727 S. DEARBORN ST. CHICAGO

Copyright, 1905
M. A. Donohue & Co.

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INTRODUCTION.

From whatever point of view the character of Eugene Field is seen,genius—rare and quaint presents itself in childlike simplicity. That hewas a poet of keen perception, of rare discrimination, all will admit.He was a humorist as delicate and fanciful as Artemus Ward, Mark Twain,Bill Nye, James Whitcomb Riley, Opie Read, or Bret Harte in theirhappiest moods. Within him ran a poetic vein, capable of being worked inany direction, and from which he could, at will, extract that which hisimagination saw and felt most. That he occasionally left thechild-world, in which he longed to linger, to wander among the olderchildren of men, where intuitively the hungry listener follows him intohis Temple of Mirth, all should rejoice, for those who knew him not, canwhile away the moments imbibing the genius of his imagination in thepoetry and prose here presented.

Though never possessing an intimate acquaintanceship with Field, owinglargely to the disparity in our ages, still there existed a bond of[4]friendliness that renders my good opinion of him in a measuretrustworthy. Born in the same city, both students in the same college,engaged at various times in newspaper work both in St. Louis andChicago, residents of the same ward, with many mutual friends, it is notsurprising that I am able to say of him that "the world is better offthat he lived, not in gold and silver or precious jewels, but in thebestowal of priceless truths, of which the possessor of this bookbecomes a benefactor of no mean share of his estate."

Every lover of Field, whether of the songs of childhood or the poemsthat lend mirth to the out-pouring of his poetic nature, will welcomethis unique collection of his choicest wit and humor.

Charles Walter Brown.

Chicago, January, 1905.

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CONTENTS.