Music of the Wild 



one that li\'e(l throuyliout the summer season among 

 tlie rosebuslies along the hue fence west of the 

 eabin, and no doubt hil)ernated somewhere on the 

 premises. Tliis ])ast summer the same one, or an- 

 other simihu', moved around to the orcliard and 

 slept among some sunflowers an<l A\ild roses shad- 

 ing my bedroom window. ^ly critic found him, 

 and came racing to know if 1 wanted his picture, 

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

 The poem reconstructed her, as it should every ozie. 

 You Avill find it in complete form in the "Home 

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

 not o\M\ the book, get it at once and learn what 

 j^ou have missed. As has been explained, the liop- 

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

 within a few feet of us, and Avorks as diligently 

 for our comfort as the martins of the windmill, 

 that, A\ith bats and flycatchers, clear the air over- 

 head of insect pests. 



There is ])erpetual amazement ii\ the amount 



of natural history a ])oet knows. Does he make 



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



Poets ^1 g^ gj-^ obiect is photograi)hed on liis l)rain and 



Know . •; . ^ / , . , , , 



he writes of it without knowing that he has impov- 

 erislied the text-books? Take this poem by James 

 Whitcomb Riley. It is a song of three stanzas, 

 \vith a uniform refrain to each. From it ycni learn 

 the fact that the toad has hibernated : the season 

 of his appearance, his location, and his character- 



194 



