Krinken by Eugene Field

A Nis (or Nisse) is a spirit from Scandinavian folklore, typically linked to homes or nature. In this context, Field portrays a female Nis as a water spirit—beautiful, playful, and a bit perilous—much like a siren or a selkie from other cultures. She tempts Krinken into the depths with the allure of a kiss and the promise of endless summer.

Field never specifies who the speaker is, but the final stanza reveals that this person deeply loved Krinken and remains on the shore. Many readers interpret the speaker as a parent — the line 'the winter bides with me' carries a deeply personal tone. Field himself experienced the loss of a child, adding a likely autobiographical layer to the poem.

In the poem's logic, summer isn't just a season — it's an extension of Krinken himself. Wherever he goes, warmth is sure to follow. So when he dives beneath the sea, the water turns warm and summery, while the shore permanently loses its light. This suggests that the child was the source of all joy in the speaker's life.

Field lost his son Melvin to illness, and many scholars interpret his childhood poems as reflections of that grief. Krinken employs a fairy-tale distance — with a folkloric frame and a Scandinavian spirit — to navigate a loss that feels too intense to express directly. While the poem doesn't explicitly state it's autobiographical, the emotional depth of the final lines strongly implies a personal connection.

'Hoary' refers to something ancient and white-haired — it describes things that are very old and weathered. The sea is portrayed as both ancient and grim (harsh, forbidding) to highlight its cold and lifeless nature before Krinken brings warmth to it. This contrast with the child's summer makes the sea's yearning seem almost sympathetic, despite the fact that it ultimately claims him.

The repetition gives the poem the feel of a ballad or a folk song—something you’d sing or chant. It also reflects the nature of grief: you keep coming back to the same truths, examining them from different angles. Lines like 'Krinken was a little child' and 'it was summer when he smiled' hit harder each time they come up because, by the end, we fully grasp what they mean.

'Beguiled' refers to being charmed or misled into taking action. Krinken isn’t pushed underwater — he’s captivated by the maiden Nis and willingly follows her lead. This detail matters because it keeps the child’s innocence intact: he was unaware of what he was consenting to. The term shifts the blame to the enticing spirit rather than the child.

That is a distinct, much shorter poem — a translation or adaptation of a song by the French poet Pierre-Jean de Béranger. It tells the story of a musician whose fiddle gets broken by enemy soldiers after he refuses to play for them on command. This poem explores themes of artistic integrity and the brutality of occupation, contrasting sharply with Krinken. While the two poems are included together in some Field collections, they don't share a common subject.