Be kind and tender to the Frog,
And do not call him names,
As 'Slimy skin,' or 'Polly-wog,'
Or likewise 'Ugly James,'
Or 'Gap-a-grin,' or 'Toad-gone-wrong,'
Or 'Bill Bandy-knees':
The Frog is justly sensitive
To epithets like these.
No animal will more repay
A treatment kind and fair;
At least so lonely people say
Who keep a frog (and, by the way,
They are extremely rare).
(The Frog by Hilaire Belloc.) **Trivia with a twist. Fun for the reading.
An eccentric type pet, reflecting the nature of the owner. Though kids around the pond, find them sport to catch.
I believe Belloc wrote " Billy" , not " Bill" Bandy-knees, as " Bill" doesn't scan.
An alluring poem for children, drawing them in with a tale of the fabled frog....yeah right you are mr. Terence George Craddock
I had once a friend, a frog. He would come to my kitchen to dine in style. I wrote about him in my blog: naituretails.blog
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
We have two books w/this poem. In one the text reads Gap-a-grin (like above) and the other reads Gape-a-grin. Does anyone know which is correct?