the red-legged locust. oh, my, oh, my!

he plays all day. but why? but why?

you rub your legs with your dusty wings;

your fiddle shrieks till the welkin rings;

on meadow green, through the livelong day,

you saw and eat till they’re bare and gray

zee-e-e, zee-e-, zee-e-e!

the green katydid. dear me, dear me!

the finest chap. just see, just see;

you play so hard and you trill so long,

your midget wife ne’er can sing a song,

still you rub your wings in the drollest way

while dancing clover blossoms swing and sway

zig, zig, z-i-g, zig, zig, z-i-g!

212cone-headed grasshopper, zip-zee, zip-zee,

the insects’ clown is he, is he!

from maine o’er plains to the rockies found,

with foolscap forehead and shrilling sound,

from bush and bramble your roundelay

comes sharp and clear through the summer day,

z-szip-zee. z-szip, z-szip-zee!

the wee tree cricket. so free, so free!

sings night and day! what glee, what glee!

your high held wings make such presto fine

no human skill can compare with thine;

so fast, so shrill, and so wondrous gay,

such tunes are joy to a dancing fay,

t-ree-ee, t-re-ee, t-re-ee! t-re-ee, t-re-ee, t-re-ee!

sweet meadow fiddlers, zip, zee, zip, zee!

they fill the earth with glee, with glee!

we greet your coming with fond delight

and gayly hie in the sunshine bright,

where bees and blossoms and birds all day

wing, swing, and sing to your joyful lay.

zip-zip-z-ee! zip-zip-z-ee!