[Illustration]
#FUNNY VERSES AND PICTURES#
_The_ Frog's Fiasco
by D. K. Stevens
There was once a Frog
In a lonesome Bog
With a voice that was well worth praising.
He had one song and it used to go
Way down in the added lines below
Like this: [Symbol: music] which is quite amazing.
So he said one day
In a casual way
"Although it is scarcely vital
And I may be wrong, it appears to me
That a frog with a voice like mine should be
First class in a Song Recital."
So he posted sheets
In the village streets
With the date and the price: one shilling;
And he billed himself "_Signor_" because
He thought he would get immense applause
By the aid of a little _frilling_.
Well, it came about
That his friends turned out
From the Crane to the Curious Cricket,
With the Hare and the Hedgehog, Coon and Fox,
And the Critical Owl in a private box,
(On a Complimentary Ticket.)
When the clock struck eight
_Signor_ Frog in state
Thus opened the exhibition:
"For my first attempt on the concert-stump
I shall render a song that is called '_Ger-rump_.'
An original composition."
Then the Critical Owl
With a guttural growl,
Or a noise which was something near it,
Stood up and observed: "All summer long
From dusk till day you have sung that song--
And why should we _pay_ to hear it?"
So they all marched out
In a regular rout,
With remarks most decidedly chilling,
And every one, as he passed the stand
Where the Muskrat kept all the cash in hand,
Demanded and _got_ his shilling!
And the luckless Frog,
In the lonesome Bog,
Relapsed into deep dejection;
As he broods alone on his dismal case
And sings all night in a booming bass,
"_Ger-rump_" is his one selection.