Hilaire Belloc




The Frog


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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’:

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The Frog is justly sensitive
       To epithets like these.

No animal will more repay
       A treatment kind and fair;
At least

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                   so lonely people say
Who keep a frog (and, by the way,
They are extremely rare).

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