His Mansion in the Pool
The Frog forsakes —
He rises on a Log
And statements makes —
His Auditors two Worlds
Deducting me —
The Orator of April
Is hoarse Today —
His Mittens at his Feet
No Hand hath he —
His eloquence a Bubble
As Fame should be —
Applaud him to discover
To your chagrin
Demosthenes has vanished
In Waters Green —
~ Emily Dickinson
(The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #1355)
Demosthenes (Δημοσθένης) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens, generally considered the greatest of the Greek orators.
~ Wikipedia
Ah, Emily Dickinson – these frogs certainly do voice themselves. I listen to them in the small stream behind my house.
They have so much to say! And between their orations and the birds singing one cannot doubt which season is in full swing. 🙂
Oh Barbara! thank you for this gem – the strange and wonderful poem channeled from Source/ Dickinson and the meditating frog
You’re welcome, Leelah! I love sharing Emily’s wonderful, imaginative poems. I would have loved a chance to take a walk with her. 🙂
Beautiful photo and poem. I do have fond thoughts about frogs, probably from growing up with Kermit.
Thanks, Ally. Kermit gave some fine speeches in his day. I wonder what Emily would have made of him. 😉
Oh that’s an entertaining idea. I bet they’d have hit it off and become fast friends.
I think so, too. 🙂
I’ve yet to hear the Peepers in 2021, but I do have hope. Next week I’ll try the Vernal Pond at Humbug Marsh. I was going to go yesterday, but they were conducting a trail walk, so didn’t want to be with a group and today I went to the Botanical Gardens … next week for sure. What I do hear at Council Point Park is the carp doing belly flops in the Creek. They make a real racket. I used to catch tadpoles as a kid and bring them home … my mom would give me a clean pickle jar. “No more than a couple of tadpoles and when they lose their tail, they go back where they came from – I don’t want any frogs hopping around the house!”
I can’t say I’ve ever heard carp doing belly flops in a creek. That must be quite the sound and sight! Your mom was pretty cool to let you keep a couple of tadpoles for a short while.
My sister and I used to go down to play in the swamp/vernal pool in the woods behind our house and all the frogs would stop croaking. Then we’d sit very still without talking, close to the water, and watch as they tentatively came to the surface, just a couple of eyes poking out at first. If the first one thought the “danger” (us, I presume) had passed it would start croaking again and come out of the water. Others would join slowly but surely. 🙂
I’m guessing my mom figured that keeping them in the basement would give me a learning experience until they got legs. She’d inspect them … then they’d go back to the creek. I can’t remember if we saw frogs looking out of the water at us – I’m thinking not, just seeing and getting the tadpoles. I guess the Creek was clean water or my mother would have said not to stick my hands in the dirty water. What nice memories we have Barbara and they helped foster our enjoyment of nature even back then.
Nice memories, indeed. I wish more parents taught their children to respect and care for the living beings sharing this planet with us. 💙
Me too Barbara – they would grow up to be caring adults in many aspects. If only … maybe one day.
🙏
Another lovely Emily Dickinson poem, Barbara. 🙂
I don’t know about you, but I find there’s something very comforting about the sound of frogs in my garden. <3
So happy you enjoyed the poem, Joanne. 🙂 I don’t hear too many frogs where I live now, but when I was a child I loved that sound heralding the arrival of spring in earnest!
We have gorgeous green tree frogs living in a rock retaining wall in our front garden. Sometimes at night during summer, we see them on our windowsills. 😊
When I read Emily Dickinson’s work, I get the impression she ‘feels’ nature profoundly. ❤️
That’s pretty cool having frogs living so close to your house. Like your birds and mammals my guess is that your frogs are a lot different than ours. 🙂 That must be neat having them look into your house from the windowsills.
Emily was definitely a nature lover, as her poems reveal. 💙 When she was a teenager she created a herbarium, a collection of pressed plants and flowers. Here’s an interesting article about it:
https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/05/23/emily-dickinson-herbarium/
Thank you for sharing the Emily Dickinson link, Barbara. I’ve bookmarked the page so I can look at it again. Her story explains why her poetry is so heartfelt. 🙂
I found a link so you can see my lovely green tree frogs – https://www.survival.org.au/green-tree-frog.php
I have taken photos of them myself, but usually in the dark, so you can’t see the detail as well.
Thank you, Joanne! What a handsome bright green frog, and with such a pleasant expression on his face. 🙂
Well said, Emily (as always!). Have you heard many frogs yet, Barbara? I can’t say I have … however, our birds always have a LOT to say, morning and evening!!
I haven’t heard too many frogs yet this year but I plan to visit a pond on our walk today so I’m keeping my fingers crossed! 🙂 Our birds are singing away like yours, starting at 4 o’clock in the morning. (Since I’m a morning person I enjoy it immensely!)