Analysis of The Tiny Frog (a bedtime poem)

Leslie Kay Lanham 1960 (West Virginia)



Once there was a tiny frog,
Who jumped inside a hollow log -
That rested on a bed of clay,
Beside the river’s edge one day.

And playing with his frog friends there,
He turned to them and did declare -
“I’ll count to ten,” he said with glee,
“Then I will find you all - you’ll see!”

For they were playing hide and seek,
He closed his eyes so not to peek.
While counting, when he got to four,
It suddenly began to pour.

Great big raindrops falling down,
Forming puddles on the ground.
His hollow log began to shift
And soon he found himself adrift.

The current took him farther still
And came to rest up near a hill.
He felt afraid there, all alone,
And knew he was not near his home.

He hopped outside, hoping to find
Another frog, like his own kind.
He shouted, “I could use a friend!”
Then climbed back in his log again.

He thought his cry had gone unheard,
Until he saw the lovely bird.
So pretty with her crest of blue
And wings with gold flecks shining through.

She landed there quite near his head,
Peered down inside the log and said -
“Please do not cry, why are you sad?
The rain has stopped, it’s not so bad!”

He slowly wiped away a tear
Then said, “I can’t get home from here -
The river carried me too far
In truth, I don’t know where we are.”

The lovely bird began to sing
While stretching out her lovely wings -
She said, “I’ll help you find your way,
And I’ll get you home safe today!”

Just then the sun came shining through,
She told him what he now must do -
“Climb on my wing and hold on tight,”
She said, then they took off in flight.

The tiny frog looked down in awe
At all the beauty that he saw -
And when he found his home below
She gently set him down to go.

He waved goodbye and thanked his friend,
Saying,  “I hope we’ll meet again!”
“We shall,” she said as her reply -
Then flew away up in the sky.

The tiny frog told all his friends,
“You won’t believe where I have been!
I met someone different from me
And she could sing so beautifully.”

The lovely bird and tiny frog
Who once met on a hollow log -
Remained as friends forever true,
Goodnight - sweet dreams - and I love you.


Scheme ABCC DDEE FFGG XXHH IIXX JJKL MMNN OOPP DXQQ XXCC NNRR XXSS KLTT XXEE ABNN
Poetic Form Quatrain  (33%)
Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1110101 11010101 11010111 01010111 01011111 11110101 11111111 11111111 11010101 11111111 11011111 11000111 111101 1010101 11010111 01110101 01011101 01111101 11011101 01111111 11111011 01011111 11011101 11101101 11111101 01110101 11010111 01111101 11011111 11010101 11111111 01111111 11010101 11111111 01010111 01111111 01010111 11010101 11111111 01111101 11011101 11111111 11110111 11111101 01011101 11010111 01111101 11011111 1110111 10111101 11111001 11011001 01011111 11011111 11110011 01111100 01010101 11110101 01110101 1110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,184
Words 476
Sentences 24
Stanzas 15
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 60
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 106
Words per stanza (avg) 28

About this poem

I wrote this as a bedtime poem for my grandchildren. It has a sweet message about friendship.

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Written on September 08, 2022

Submitted by lanhamleslie on September 22, 2022

Modified by lanhamleslie on October 09, 2022

2:22 min read
485

Leslie Kay Lanham

Mother, Grandmother, and happily retired. Part time poet and lyricist. Studied at Troy University. Currently resides in Pensacola, Florida. more…

All Leslie Kay Lanham poems | Leslie Kay Lanham Books

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