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It seems that the author of the poem went to look at a cottage that was for sale.  The previous owners had closed it up after their son died, and it remained as they had left it.  As the author wandered through the long empty house, he discovered some child’s toys left in the seat of an old rocking chair, and he penned these words.

The little toy dog is covered with dust,

   But sturdy and stanch he stands;

And the little toy soldier is red with rust,

   And his musket moulds in his hands.

Time was when the little toy dog was new,

   And the soldier was passing fair;

And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue

   Kissed them and put them there.

“Now, don’t you go till I come,” he said,

   “And don’t you make any noise!”

So, toddling off to his trundle-bed,

   He dreamt of the pretty toys;

And, as he was dreaming, an angel song

   Awakened our Little Boy Blue---

Oh! the years are many, the years are long,

   But the little toy friends are true!

Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand,

   Each in the same old place---

Awaiting the touch of a little hand,

   The smile of a little face;

And they wonder, as waiting the long years through

   In the dust of that little chair,

What has become of our Little Boy Blue,

   Since he kissed them and put them there. – Eugene Field, “Little Boy Blue”

My Mother’s Favorite Song, John William Smith, page 201