Music of the Wild 



one that lived throughout the summer season among 

 the rosebushes along the line fence west of the 

 cabin, and no doubt hibernated somewhere on the 

 premises. This past summer the same one, or an- 

 other similar, moved around to the orchard and 

 slept among some sunflowers and wild roses shad- 

 ing my bedroom window. My critic found him, 

 and came racing to know if I wanted his picture, 

 but later she objected to having it used in this book. 

 The poem reconstructed her, as it should every one. 

 You will find it in complete form in the "Home 

 Folk's" volume of Riley's poems, and if you do 

 not own the book, get it at once and learn what 

 you have missed. As has been explained, the hop- 

 toad is one of our home folks and lives very close, 

 within a few feet of us, and works as diligently 

 for our comfort as the martins of the windmill, 

 that, with bats and flycatchers, clear the air over- 

 head of insect pests. 



There is perpetual amazement in the amount 

 of natural history a poet knows. Does he make 

 What an especial study of it or does he see so clearly 

 Poets ^| ia ^ an object is photographed on his brain and 

 he writes of it without knowing that he has impov- 

 erished the text-books? Take this poem by James 

 Whitcomb Riley. It is a song of three stanzas, 

 with a uniform refrain to each. From it you learn 

 the fact that the toad has hibernated; the season 

 of his appearance, his location, and his character- 

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