The Giant and the Star | ||
38
THE BOY NEXT DOOR
I
There's a boy who lives next door;And this boy is just as bad
As a boy can be; and poor!—
He's so poor it makes me sad
When I see him. Out at knee;
And no shoes; and, more than that,
Hardly any shirt or hat.—
He's as poor as Poverty.
II
But I like him; yes, I do.He can play 'most any game,
And tell fairy stories, too;
Funny stories, just the same
As my father does. And he
Told me one about a frog,
Living near a lake or bog,
Frog that married a bumblebee.
39
III
And another of Jumping JoanAnd Hink Minx, the old witch that
Sits before the fire alone
Frying fat for her black cat.
And of Craney Crow; her dog
And her chicken.—But the best,
One I like more than the rest,
'S that one of the bee and frog.
IV
Well, the bumblebee would singAll day long; and all the night
Sang the old frog; till the thing,
So folks said, was done in spite,
Just to keep the flowers awake:
One a rose, a brier-rose;
And the other, one of those
Lilies that grow in a lake.
V
All day long the bee would prodAt the rose and buzz and keep
Shaking it; it could n't nod,
Much less ever go to sleep:
40
I'm so happy! Can't you be
Just a little neighborly?—
Ain't my froggie just a dear?”
VI
And the frog all night would singTo the water-lily; while
On the pad he'd sit or cling,
On his face an ear-wide smile,
Croaking, “Listen! have you heard
All about my bouncing bee?—
Don't you wish that you were she?—
I'm as happy as a bird!”
VII
Then the water-lily'd yawn,And the rose would bat its eyes:
One would say, “It's nearly dawn.
Better sleep. So I advise.”
And the other, “Jumping Jim!
That old frog's a wonder! made
Just for you.—Can't I persuade
You to sing your songs to him?”
VIII
Finally it got so badThat the rose and lily agreed
41
And just dying to be freed
From this tuneful tyranny.
So the rose just took a thorn,
When the bee dropped in one morn,
Stabbed her; killed her dead, you see.
IX
That night by the yellow moon,Sitting on the lily-pad,
Tuning up his old bassoon,
Did n't that old frog feel sad
When the lily told him! Cried
Fit to break one's heart; and, plunk!
In he plunged right there and sunk:
Drowned, committed suicide.
The Giant and the Star | ||