Sonus of the Fields 



^to 



istics. In personal appearance, yon are told that 

 he has a nisty back, a habit of dncking his head, 

 a fnll throat, the palj)itant motion of which is 

 touched \ipon, as are his warts, and his "bloat" 

 ej-es; while in the question, "S'pose I want to 'flict 

 you any more 'an A\hat you airT' is encompassed 

 a volume on his social status. 



I wish that every person in the world were com- 

 pelled to read this poem in order to attain a ra- 

 tional attitude concerning so valuable a friend and 

 neighbor as the hop-toad, in the tirst place; and in 

 the second, to come to a realization of the things 

 that lie at the bottom of the bul)I)ling fountain in 

 the lieart of a poet. I have had inidisputed ])Os- 

 session of all the hop-toads in my ^•icinity since 

 my birth; so the feeling that I had been patted 

 on the head and personally commended came to 

 me on first reading tliis ex(iuisite song. 



Every grain field of earth has its choral union, 

 but it long has been a stvidy of mine to decide which 

 musicians have the loveliest environment. I was MyOat- 

 strongly attracted with wheat; corn, rye, buck- ^'^ 

 wheat, all had ^\eighty consideration, and clover 

 almost tip])ed the scales of my judgment in its 

 favor, liut after years of deliberation the choice 

 has fallen on oats. This decision rests solely on 

 artistic merit. The market value of a subject that 

 furnishes me a pictm-e or sings me a song is of 

 no consideration. Is it beautiful? Does it touch 



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