“Frog and Toad” is a funny poem that has a twist ending. It tells the story of a curious frog following a grumpy toad and is perfect for primary school audiences. It contains personification, rhyme, alliteration and assonance.
“Frog and Toad”
By Kia West
Little cheeky Charlie is a sneaky little frog.
One day, little Charlie went hopping in the fog.
He bounded quickly down the road,
Until he happened on a toad.
“Oh Mr Toad,” Charlie said,
“What is that sitting on your head?”
“Well,” said Toad, “it’s clear to see,
On my head’s a wheel of brie.”
“A wheel of brie?” Asked Charlie,
“As in cheese? Please, let me see!”
“I can’t do that,” said Mr Toad,
And then he hopped off down the road
So Charlie chased behind each hop,
peering at the cheese on top.
“Mr Toad, please tell me,
Why do you have a wheel of brie?”
As Mr Toad just hopped faster,
Charlie asked, “Are you making pasta?”
“I’m not making anything!”
Said Mr Toad, “It’s my job to bring-
A wheel of cheese and a main-dish-thing.”
“Ah!” Said Charlie, “”You’re off to dinner?
Well your friend might just end up thinner.
You’ve got your brie on top your head,
But don’t have a main to keep them fed!”
Mr Toad hopped ever on,
But talked to prove this rude frog wrong
“No Mr Frog, you misunderstand.
I don’t carry it in my hand.”
“My friend that I am off to see,
Well, he is French. He says “wee wee.”
And when I see him, he always begs
That I should make him fresh frog’s legs.”
Poetic Devices:
Personification
Rhyme
Alliteration
Assonance
More about the Frog and Toad poem…
The “Frog and Toad” poem was written with no plan and had several extra verses in the first draft. It was edited down to eight verses because it wasn’t concluding and the twist that revealed Mr Toad’s motivation served as a nice ending. Here are a few of the extra verses:
“See, Mr Frog, you are in danger
It’s what you get for stalking a stranger
Have you noticed as we hopped?
Your familiar landmarks, they have stopped.”
“No use to look around for help
You have no hope, you foolish welp.
If you had sense, you would have fled
And not followed me as I led.”
“Now say goodbye to this cruel world.
I’ll serve you up with butter, curled.”
“No, Mr Toad, you won’t get me.
I’m black belt in karate”
This poem has eight verses. Verse five has five lines, but all the others have four.
This poem is an example of personification. Personification is when non-human things are given human qualities. In this case, it is the frog and toad having a conversation and the toad heading off to what seems to be a very human-like dinner party.
Each verse is made up of two rhyming couplets (lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme), except for verse five which starts with a rhyming couplet and then has the next three lines rhyme with each other.
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words within close proximity of each other. An example of alliteration in the poem is the repetition of the “T” and “R” sounds in verse seven, lines one and two:
“Mr Toad hopped ever on,
But talked to prove this rude frog wrong”
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within close proximity of each other. An example from the “Frog and Toad” poem is the repetition of the long “E” sound in verse one, line one:
“Little cheeky Charlie is a sneaky little frog.”
For more poems like this one, click on the link below.
