“’Tis here, with eager hearts and legs,
    Folks come to buy their teas—­
  Their coffee, sugar, butter, eggs,
    Molasses, flour, and cheese—­
  And every article I keep,
    As all good grocers do,
  They purchase here amazing cheap—­
    The very finest, too.

  “Yet when a canvass must be won,
    He, who presides it o’er,
  Is sadly qualified to run
    A country grocery store;
  His soul, once mesmerized by Blaine,
    Is very ill at ease
  When lowered to the humble plane
    Of butter, eggs, and teas!

  “But what precipitates my woe,
    And fills my heart with fear,
  Is all this happy, human flow,
    With not a word of cheer;
  They purchase goods of various styles,
    Yet, as they swell my gain,
  They mention Cleveland’s name with smiles,
    But never speak of Blaine!"_

Of serious views on political questions Field had none.  The same may be truthfully said of his attitude on all social and economic problems.  He eschewed controversy and controversial subjects.  His study was literature and the domestic side and social amenities of life; and he left the salvation of the republic and the amelioration of the general condition of mankind to those who felt themselves “sealed” to such missions.

CHAPTER IX

HIS “AUTO-ANALYSIS”

In the introduction I have said that if Eugene Field had only written his autobiography, as was once his intention, it would probably have been one of the greatest works of fiction by an American.  Early in his career he was the victim of that craze that covets the signatures and manuscript sentiments of persons who have achieved distinction, which later he did so much to foster by precept and practice.  He was an inveterate autograph-hunter, and toward the close of his life he paid the penalty of harping on the joys of the collector by the receipt of a perfect avalanche of requests for autographs and extracts from his poems in his own handwriting.  The nature of his most popular verses also excited widespread curiosity as to the life, habits, and views of the author of “Little Boy Blue” and “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.”  The importunities of this last class of admirers became so numerous that during the winter of 1894 he wrote and had printed what he called his “Auto-Analysis.”  “I give these facts, confessions, and observations,” wrote he, “for the information of those who, for one reason or another, are applying constantly to me for biographical data concerning myself.”  Such was its author’s humor, that behind almost every fact in this “Auto-Analysis” lurks either an error or a hoax.  Its confessions are half-truths, and its whimsical observations are purposely designed to lead the reader to false conclusions.  And withal the whole document is written with the ingeniousness of a mind without guile, which was one of Field’s most highly developed literary accomplishments.  No study of Field’s character and methods would be complete without giving this very “human document”: