TREE TOADS DUET 



The Music of the Marsh 



"TV AT O'ROURKE! Pat O'Rourke! Pat 



r^ O'Rourke!" rolls Father Bullfrog's basso 

 * profundo. 



"Got drunk! Got drunk! Got drunk!" echoes 

 Mother Bullfrog's contralto, responsive. 



"Keel 'im! Keel 'im! Keel 5 im!" pipes the 

 youngster's shrill treble. 



Thus the frogs sing the opening chorus. 

 Through earth's long winter sleep the marsh lies 

 the barest and dreariest of places. With the first The 

 black frost all its tender, succulent water plants Prelude 

 and vines droop their graceful heads and become 

 masses of decaying vegetation. Stripped of June's 

 riot of foliage and bloom, the bushes stand bare 

 and scraggy. The trees reach heavenward stark 

 branches, like bony fingers, as if imploring the 

 powers of nature to come quickly and reclothe 

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