Poems (Merrill)/The Jay and the Frog

by Clara A. Merrill

THE JAY AND THE FROG

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A blue-jay sat on a hickory limb,
 And a bullfrog sat below
On a tuft of grass, where rushes green
 Were waving to and fro.
While near him lay the glassy pool
 Where the tad-poles leap'd in play;
But the old frog's face wore a troubled frown
 As he thus addressed the jay:—

"Did I wear your dress of brilliant hue
 Instead of this coat of green;
I could have the best the world affords,
 And always live serene.
You fly away to the fields of grain
 Or feast on the cherries high;
While I sit here 'neath the rushes cool,
 And snap at a wary fly."

"Then why," said the jay, "If you wish to rise
 Do you not ascend this limb?'
"I will! I will!" cried the silly frog,
 I'm tired of folks that swim!'
So he hopped from the tuft of grass to the tree,
 Then up where the branches divide;
Then with a grin he crawled along
 And perched by the blue-jay's side.

"I'm big as you, I'm big as you'
 Cried the frog in greatest glee;
"I wish my friends could see me now—
 In this high society!"—
But his joy waned.—As a flock of jays
 With one accord did rise
And, swooping down, they pecked at him
 With harsh and jeering cries.

'Till he was forced to quick retreat.—
 As the rushes green he seeks
He said, as he leaped in the quiet pool
 And escaped their cruel beaks:—
If this is the way the 'high class' treats
 The lowly ones, 'tis clear
'Tis best that we should be content
 To stay in our native sphere!

Moral

When proud Ambition seeks to rise
 From its accustomed ways;
Oft jealousies will jeer and peck,
 As did the haughty jays.

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To all who chance to read this tale,
 Its simple warning speaks,—
"Ye who aspire to sphere's aloft—
 Beware of vicious beaks!"