English Poetry. Hilaire Belloc. The Frog. Хилар Беллок.

Hilaire Belloc (Хилар Беллок)

The Frog

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).

Hilaire Belloc’s other poems:

1. On Torture: A Public Singer
2. Ha’nacker Mill
3. Time Cures All
4. Hildebrand
5. Lines For A Christmas Card

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