"Croak" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... with a feeble and discordant howl. A great sea came running up aft and hung for a moment over us with a curling top; then crashed down under the counter and spread out on both sides into a great sheet of bursting froth. Above its fierce hiss we heard Singleton's croak:—"She is steering!" He had both his feet now planted firmly on the grating, and the wheel spun fast as he eased the helm.—"Bring the wind on the port quarter and steady her!" called out the master, staggering to his feet, the first man up from amongst our prostrate heap. One ...
— The Nigger Of The "Narcissus" - A Tale Of The Forecastle • Joseph Conrad
... these doves have no news save of the deluge. Presently an early reveille startles us from our beds of soft plank, and, as we fall in sleepily, fagged and exhausted in mind and body by this work, so new and so trying, we are electrified by the hoarse croak of Sergeant Files—he too is used up. 'Volunteers to go beyond the District,' step two paces t'the front—H'rch!' Four men remain in the ranks. All eyes turn to this shabby remnant, but they remain immovable, with the leaden expression ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, September 1864 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various
... sweet to me—you that can play First and second at once. Then I too will essay To croak on the pipes: and yon lad shall salute Our ears with a melody breathed through his flute. In the cave by the green oak our watch we will keep, And goatish old Pan we'll defraud of ...
— Theocritus • Theocritus
... cried Kitty, pouting. "Margaret, you do croak about me so! If you say any more I'll go and rouge till you'll be ashamed to go out ...
— The Marriage of William Ashe • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... get away in that darkness which had aided his coming thither. But the night, like the day, passed and brought no news. On the morrow, the pope, tormented by the gloomiest presentiments and by the raven's croak of the 'vox populi', let himself fall into the depths of despair: amid sighs and sobs of grief, all he could say to any one who came to him was but these words, repeated a thousand times: "Search, search; let us know how my unhappy son ...
— Celebrated Crimes, Complete • Alexandre Dumas, Pere
... which had dispelled the fog, came from the north and blew colder and colder as the night wore on. In the morning the Captain woke stiff and chilled and with a very sore throat. "I'm all right," he protested when Aunt Clara came in to administer remedies, but his voice was a mere croak. Aunt Clara felt of his head and found a high fever. She promptly ordered him to stay in bed and set herself to the task of breaking up the cold. Hinpoha wandered ...
— The Campfire Girls on Ellen's Isle - The Trail of the Seven Cedars • Hildegard G. Frey
... doth a leaping fish Send through the tarn a lonely cheer; The crags repeat the raven's croak, In symphony austere; Thither the rainbow comes—the cloud— And mists that spread the flying shroud; And sun-beams; and the sounding blast, That, if it could, would hurry past; But that enormous barrier ...
— Biographia Literaria • Samuel Taylor Coleridge
... his last draught, the Friar began talking again in this wise: "Now, sweet lad, canst thou not sing me a song? La, I know not, I am but in an ill voice this day; prythee ask me not; dost thou not hear how I croak like a frog? Nay, nay, thy voice is as sweet as any bullfinch; come, sing, I prythee, I would rather hear thee sing than eat a fair feast. Alas, I would fain not sing before one that can pipe so well and ...
— The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood • Howard Pyle
... the sides of the pool were very steep, and the ass of the Cogia, on seeing the water, not being able to restrain himself, ran forward to the pool. Just as he was falling in, the frogs of the pool began to croak violently; their voices frightening the ass, he ran back. The Cogia, however, seized hold of him, and exclaiming, 'Bravo, ye birds of the pool!' he took out a handful of aspres, and flung them into the pool, saying, 'Here's something ...
— The Turkish Jester - or, The Pleasantries of Cogia Nasr Eddin Effendi • Nasreddin Hoca
... followed behind and by our side. We were thus proceeding onward to the house of the minister, whose blessing was to make a couple happy, and the arm of the blooming bride was through mine, when I heard a voice, or rather let me say a sound, like the croak of a raven, exclaim— ...
— Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 2 - Historical, Traditional, and Imaginative • Alexander Leighton
... "I hope to croak if there wasn't two of 'em with the stren'th of eight," rejoined Phelan, wiping his dripping forehead and rolling his eyes. "An' they chloroformed me an' stuffed me into the chest. You ...
— Officer 666 • Barton W. Currie
... we're not going to croak, nor spend the day imagining all kinds of unpleasant things. Father has written me a long letter, and there are some things in it which I don't quite like; but I am not going to talk them over at present. ...
— Red Rose and Tiger Lily - or, In a Wider World • L. T. Meade
... voice was blithe, her heart was light; The Broom might have pursued Her speech, until the stars of night Their journey had renew'd. But in the branches of the Oak Two Ravens now began to croak Their nuptial song, a gladsome air; And to her own green bower the breeze That instant brought two stripling Bees To feed and ...
— Lyrical Ballads with Other Poems, 1800, Vol. 2 • William Wordsworth
... murder anybody?" he gasped finally in a hoarse croak. "You'll have to prove it to me ...
— The Lamp That Went Out • Augusta Groner
... but one croak heard in all the applause. It came from Murger's father. He could not believe his eyes and his ears, when they avouched to him that his son's name and praises filled every paper and every mouth. It utterly confounded him. The day of the second performance ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 74, December, 1863 • Various
... between a duck and a heron, both of which were in the hotel garden. The heron looked very ill and weak, and used to remain in the same spot for a long time, standing first on one leg and then the other, the duck lying a little distance off. When the heron wished to walk about it gave a feeble croak, and the duck would immediately join it, and the two commenced walking round the garden. When the heron was tired, it gave another croak, and the two companions stopped their walk. The only time that the duck left the heron ...
— Little Folks (July 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various
... An uncommon sound, half croak, half cry, which only hill dwellers know, but 'tis an eery noise in the wilderness. It came again, less near, and a third time from a great distance. I thought it queer, for a hawk does not scream twice in the same hour. I looked at Shalah, who stood by the gate, every sinew ...
— Salute to Adventurers • John Buchan
... physical reason. For these are clearly the most mountainous parts of the United Kingdom; and the clear mountain air seems to produce on the average a better type of human larynx than the mists of the level. The men of the lowland, say the Tyrolese, croak like frogs in their marshes; but the men of the upland sing like nightingales on their tree-tops. And indeed, it would seem as if the mountain people were always calling to one another across intervening valleys, always singing and whistling and ...
— Post-Prandial Philosophy • Grant Allen
... cry which was meant to be triumphant, although it came like a hoarse croak from his parched throat. Then the tears gushed into his eyes as he gazed again upon the flag. It almost seemed as if ...
— Chasing an Iron Horse - Or, A Boy's Adventures in the Civil War • Edward Robins
... "It is the croak of a raven newly alighted in the tree above us," replied Richard. "The sagacious bird will ever attend the huntsman in the chase, in the hope of obtaining a morsel when they ...
— The Lancashire Witches - A Romance of Pendle Forest • William Harrison Ainsworth
... letters for no other reason than because they coupled their names with that of Erasmus by reviling him. Let the critics take courage—they may outwit oblivion yet, even though they do nothing but carp. Only let them be wise, and carp, croak, cough, cat-call and sneeze at some one who is hitching his wagon to a star. This way immortality lies. Erasmus was a monk who flocked by himself, and found diversion in ridiculing monkery. Also, he was the wisest man of his day. Wisdom is the ...
— Little Journeys To The Homes Of Great Teachers • Elbert Hubbard
... merit for all my kingdom." Then the old woman got very angry and cursed the queen, saying, "You will become half a frog and half a human being, and you will stand outside your co-wife's bath-room and croak like a frog." But the queen did not mind her the least little bit, and she laughed so loud at the old woman that the noise was like two chains rattling together. Mahalaxmi went off in a great rage and entered Queen Chimadevrani's part of the palace. There ...
— Deccan Nursery Tales - or, Fairy Tales from the South • Charles Augustus Kincaid
... thin as russet silk, at random are spread out. The croak of frogs from the adjoining lane but faintly strikes the ear. The pillow a slight chill pervades, for rain outside the window falls. The landscape, which now meets the eye, is like that seen in dreams by man. In plenteous streams the candles' tears ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book I • Cao Xueqin
... below' were meant for lazying—for old annuals of the B.O.P., for Dicks's Standards, for the Seaside library! Everyone knows that the short dog-watches were meant for sing-song and larking, and, perhaps, a fight, or two! What did we care if Old Martin and his mates were croak, croak, croakin' about 'standin' by' and settin' th' gear handy? We were 'hard cases,' all of us, even young Munro and Burke, the 'nipper' of the starboard watch! We didn't care! We could stand the ...
— The Brassbounder - A Tale of the Sea • David W. Bone
... headpiece lined with fence of proof. Alternate clack the strokes in whirling strife; Sore buffeted, quakes and shivers heart of oak. But when grasshopper feels the vulture's talons, Then the storm-boding ravens croak their last, Prevail the mules, butts his ...
— Works, V3 • Lucian of Samosata
... and hears no sounds but that of an occasional big rain-drop, plashing on the bare bent; the crag high overhead sometimes utters a sullen groan—the pilgrim, starting, listens, and the noise is repeated, but instead of a groan, a croak—croak—croak! manifestly from a thing with life. A pause of silence! and hollower and hoarser the croak is heard from the opposite side of the glen. Eyeing the black sultry heaven, he feels the warm plash on his face, but sees no bird on the wing. By-and-by ...
— Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2 • John Wilson
... Suddenly a loud croak in the distance caused us to look up, and we beheld another dragon on the wing, coining rapidly towards us from a pass among the mountains. There was not a moment to be lost, and Gazen, taking Miss Carmichael in his arms, ...
— A Trip to Venus • John Munro
... chid, * Writing in verse: how long shall I forbid? For all forbiddal thou persistest more, * And my sole grace it is to keep it hid; Then hide thy love nor ever dare reveal, * For an thou speak, of thee I'll soon be rid If to thy silly speech thou turn anew, * Ravens shall croak for thee the wold amid: And Death shall come and beat thee down ere long, * Put out of sight and bury 'neath an earthen lid: Thy folk, fond fool! thou'lt leave for thee to mourn, * And through their lives ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 3 • Richard F. Burton
... ain't kidding!" Then reading amused incredulity in his friend's face he demanded: "How you know I ain't got a rich uncle that raised me from a colt and that broke his heart at me runnin' away and turning out wild, and has had lawyers gunnin' for me ever since he knew he was gettin' old and going to croak? How you know ...
— Laughing Bill Hyde and Other Stories • Rex Beach
... them mischievous bantams, ma'am," said the cook, a countrywoman who had made a study of cocks and hens. "They always give that sort of catchy croak at the end of their crows. But, to be sure, what a fright it's gave us all! And where ...
— Hoodie • Mary Louisa Stewart Molesworth
... Bottom back to life and made the arms of the Cervantian wind-mill turn and the frogs of Aristophanes croak. But oh, shade of Yorick! how the sap, the ichor, the sharp authentic tang, that really tickles our sensibilities, has thinned out and fallen flat during the centuries. My hearers have smiled and ...
— Suspended Judgments - Essays on Books and Sensations • John Cowper Powys
... question," Tired Tim reminded him with a wide yawn. "I asked you why you didn't attend the singing-parties over in Cedar Swamp. You could croak your head off there and no ...
— The Tale of Ferdinand Frog • Arthur Scott Bailey
... it said, the two Cocos—male and female—never for an instant part company. Where one trips, there trips the other. If Senor Coco starts off on any important enterprise, his Senora gives a croak expressive of her readiness to follow, and is after him like his own shadow. Similarly, when la Senora Coco dives into the depths of an old boot in quest of emptiness, her lord assists ...
— The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in Cuba • Walter Goodman
... such a fool? here 's a white hand: Can blood so soon be washed out? let me see; When screech-owls croak upon the chimney-tops, And the strange cricket i' th' oven sings and hops, When yellow spots do on your hands appear, Be certain then you of a corse shall hear. Out upon 't, how 'tis speckled! h' 'as handled ...
— The White Devil • John Webster
... croak of voice was running down, as a clock runs down for lack of winding. Shann sped on, reacting to a plea which did not lay in ...
— Storm Over Warlock • Andre Norton
... free the waters of swamp and river, lake and sea, to leap and sparkle in their new-found liberty. Birds renewed their visits to the regions of the north; frogs, at last unfrozen, opened their leathern jaws to croak and whistle in the marshes; and men began their preparations for ...
— The Young Fur Traders • R.M. Ballantyne
... deed of conveyance assigning to me, with no restrictive covenants, the freehold of one of those mills, for I have coveted a mill ever since I succumbed to the enchantments of Lettres de mon moulin. True, Flanders is not Provence, and the croaking of the frogs, croak they never so amorously, among the willows in the plains below is a poor exchange for the chant of the cigale. But these mills look out over a landscape that is now dearer to me than Abana and Pharpar, for many a gallant friend of ...
— Leaves from a Field Note-Book • J. H. Morgan
... the robins richly call To their mates mercurial, And the tree-boughs creak and strain In the wind; When the river's rough with foam, And the new-made clearings smoke, And the clouds that go and come Shine and darken frolicsome, And the frogs at evening croak Undefined Mysteries of monotone, And by melting beds of snow Wind-flowers blossom all alone; Then I know That the bitter winter's dead. Over his head The damp sod breaks so mellow,— Its mosses tipped with points of yellow,— I ...
— Rose and Roof-Tree - Poems • George Parsons Lathrop
... asked Jupiter for a king. In the pantomimical scenes of a wild fancy, the actors were seen croaking in their fens, or climbing up the steep ascent of Olympus; they were dressed so as to appear gigantic frogs; and in pleading their cause before Jupiter and his court, the dull humour was to croak sublimely, whenever they did not ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. II (of 3) - Edited, With Memoir And Notes, By His Son, The Earl Of Beaconsfield • Isaac D'Israeli
... day before, scattered like poppy beds over the bog, and signalling and firing till the misty October air tingled with excitement. When you have lived your life among wide-bounded solitudes, where the silence is oftenest broken by the plover's pipe or the croak of some heavily flapping bird, you will know the meaning of a bugle-call. Mick and his contemporaries had acted as camp-followers from early till late with ever intensifying ardour; one outcome whereof was that he heard his especial ...
— Stories by English Authors: Ireland • Various
... she arrived at the door of No. 30 Welham Mansions, and Marie opened it to her with the baby in her arms, huddled up in a rather soiled shawl from which only his incredibly downy head emerged. He looked solemnly at Julia and emitted an inquiring croak. ...
— Married Life - The True Romance • May Edginton
... scream'd All day the sister strumm'd and sung; The petted maid was such a scold! My Susan learn'd to use her tongue: Her mother had such wretched health, She sate and croak'd like any frog— What d'ye think of that, my Cat? What d'ye ...
— The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood • Thomas Hood
... pertickler, mister. You ask for dirty work to be done, an' when that dirty work's done, gorl-darn-it you croak like a flannel-mouthed temperance lecturer. Guess I came hyar to talk straight biz. Jest leave the temperance track, ...
— The Story of the Foss River Ranch • Ridgwell Cullum
... we, the moon shines bright, Both current and ripple are dancing in light. We have roused the night raven, I heard him croak, As we plashed along beneath the oak That flings its broad branches so far and so wide, Their shadows are dancing in midst of the tide. "Who wakens my nestlings," the raven he said, "My beak shall ere morn in his blood be red. For a blue swoln corpse is a dainty meal. And I'll have ...
— The Monastery • Sir Walter Scott
... nimble bear, And the pool resounds with the cayman's plash, And the owl sings out of the boughs of the ash, Where he sits so calm and cool, And above his head the muckawiss Sings his gloomy song, And croak the frogs in the pool, And he hears at his feet the horn-snake's hiss; Then often flit along The shades of the youth and maid so true, That haunt the Lake of the ...
— Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 3 (of 3) • James Athearn Jones
... It is not all easy. But as far as I ken, or yet as I go, We silly wed-men dree mickle woe;[95] We have sorrow then and then, it falls often so, Silly capyl, our hen, both to and fro She cackles, But begin she to croak, To groan or to cluck, Woe is him, say of our cock, For he is in the shackles. These men that are wed, have not all their will, When they are full hard sted,[96] they sigh full still; God wait they are led full hard and full ill, In bower nor in bed they say not ...
— Everyman and Other Old Religious Plays, with an Introduction • Anonymous
... year. Three novels of more than full size and of first-rate importance, in less than four years, besides a good deal of other miscellaneous work—certainly that was "good going." The pace was decidedly fast. Small wonder that The Quarterly Review, even so early as October, 1837, was tempted to croak about "Mr. Dickens" as writing "too often and too fast, and putting forth in their crude, unfinished, undigested state, thoughts, feelings, observations, and plans which it required time and study to mature," and ...
— Life of Charles Dickens • Frank Marzials
... stole a sweet air fraught with spicy odours; and over all a deep and brooding quietude. But little by little upon this silence crept sounds near and far, leafy rustlings, a stirring in the undergrowth, the whimper of some animal, the croak of a bird, and the faint, never-ceasing ...
— Black Bartlemy's Treasure • Jeffrey Farnol
... him till he was hoarse, he shouted after him till his voice was a wheezy croak. Tinker passed out of sight without a glance back, and, for a while, that iron-hearted, inexorable man of many loans, sobbed like a child with mingled rage and fear. Then he scrambled down the ladder, and tried the door. There was ...
— The Admirable Tinker - Child of the World • Edgar Jepson
... (Rana esculenta) "the sacs are peculiar to the males, and become, when filled with air in the act of croaking, large globular bladders, standing out one on each side of the head, near the corners of the mouth." The croak of the male is thus rendered exceedingly powerful; whilst that of the female is only a slight groaning noise. (50. Bell, ibid. pp. 112-114.) In the several genera of the family the vocal organs differ considerably in structure, and their development in all cases may ...
— The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex • Charles Darwin
... mapped out this Donko-Tchaya, for it has rather an affected air of rurality, though very pretty. Well shaded, under a thick vault of large trees densely foliaged, a miniature lake hard by, the chosen residence of a few toads, has given it its attractive denomination. Lucky toads, who crawl and croak on the finest of moss, in the midst of tiny artificial islets decked with gardenias in full bloom. From time to time, one of them informs us of his thoughts by a "Couac," uttered in a deep bass croak infinitely more hollow than that ...
— Madame Chrysantheme • Pierre Loti
... foliage of coloured rosettes, calico banners, and Japanese-lanterns, the congested Stream of Custom oozes slowly along, with an occasional overflow into the backwaters of the shops behind, while the Stall-keepers keep up a batrachian and almost automatic croak of invitation. ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 24, 1892 • Various
... Bywater. "I don't want him, or anybody else to get pummelled to powder; I'll find it out for myself, I say. Won't my old aunt be in a way though, when she sees the surplice, and finds she has another to make! I say, Hurst, didn't you croak out that solo! Their lordships in the wigs will be soliciting ...
— The Channings • Mrs. Henry Wood
... The first croak was, that the bridegroom sent back his engagement-ring. He did not appear at the funeral to lend his bride a supporting arm as she followed the coffin half fainting; for in this little town it was the custom that the mourners, ...
— Timar's Two Worlds • Mr Jkai
... there's anything to croak about? Not in my opinion; but your uncle—— But there, it's no good taking any notice of him. He'd build a palace for his hands to work in and live in, and stop in that old mill all his life, would Bill Howroyd,' replied ...
— Sarah's School Friend • May Baldwin
... officers has seen active service in the front line trenches. Yesterday was visiting day in camp; after drill, as pretty a "Jane" as I have seen in this neck of woods asks one of 'em did he croak a Fritz, while on the other side? "I sure did," sed he "with this mighty rite hand." Whereupon, this "bunch of peeches" grabs his hand and kisses it. Skinny 'lowed as how he would have told her he bit him ...
— Love Letters of a Rookie to Julie • Barney Stone
... the cottage; and the Rat having given a loud knock, while the Frog gave a loud "Croak," Mrs. Mousey put away her spinning-wheel in a great hurry, and ...
— The Frog Who Would A Wooing Go • Charles Bennett
... want to croak," says I, "but do you think folks will send out their footwear that way? You know, New Yorkers ain't used to gettin' their ...
— The House of Torchy • Sewell Ford
... represents little Lady Selina Jemima Townsend as she appeared when afraid. Afraid—of what? Why, a poor tiny reptile, a harmless frog, that had jumped into her hat full of daisies, with a croak, as much as to say—"How do you do? Good morning, Lady Townsend; I am glad to see you down in the country." But what do you think she did? Why, the little lady scampered away as fast as she could to her governess, in whose dress she hid her face, crying,—saying ...
— The Royal Picture Alphabet • Luke Limner
... we, dance we, prance we, prance we, So merrily let us dance ey, so merrily, &c. And I can dance it gingerly, and I, &c. And I can foot it by and by, and I, &c. And I can prank it properly, And I can countenance comely,[25] And I can croak it courtesly, And I can leap it lustily, And I can turn it trimly, And I can frisk it freshly, And I can look it lordly. IGN. I can thee thank, Sensual Appetite! That is the best dance without a pipe, That I saw this seven year.[26] HU. This dance would do mich better yet, If we had a kit ...
— A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume I. • R. Dodsley
... Was it morning? She could not tell. She opened her eyes to a weird and incomprehensible twilight, to the gurgling sound of water, the booming croak ...
— The Lamp in the Desert • Ethel M. Dell
... come at once. Two of us were killed. Come—" The voice ended in a croak and there was ...
— Death Points a Finger • Will Levinrew
... at length began to subside. The mackaw's screams gave place to a low quivering croak; and the insulted pug's yells yielded to a gentle whine. The aunts' obstreperous joy began to be chastened with fear for the consequences that might follow an abrupt disclosure; and, while Lady Juliana condoled with her favourites, it was concerted ...
— Marriage • Susan Edmonstone Ferrier
... among the mulberries and lotus trees. Beyond it a valley wound its way between the shallow hills, and from a pool fringed with sedges and bullrushes above which a great stork was majestically sailing came the harsh croak of frogs. ...
— The Sea-Hawk • Raphael Sabatini
... over all before him"—for in those days Ody was lithe and limber—"and it's hard-set the thievin' Turk 'ill be to get the better of him at a racin' match—Hi—Och." She had begun to hail him with a call eager and shrill, which broke off in a strangled croak, like a young cock's unsuccessful effort. "Och, murdher, murdher, murdher," she said to the bystanders, in a disgusted undertone. "I'll give you me misfort'nit word thim ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol 4 • Charles Dudley Warner
... The Raven's croak, the chirping of the Sparrow, The scream of Jays, the creaking of Wheelbarrow, And hoot of Owls,—all join the soul to harrow, And grate the ear. We listen to thy quaint soliloquizing, As if all creatures thou wert catechizing, Tuning their voices, and their notes revising, ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. IV, No. 22, Aug., 1859 • Various
... does a leaping Fish Send through the Tarn a lonely chear; The Crags repeat the Raven's croak, In symphony austere; Thither the Rainbow comes, the Cloud; And Mists that spread the flying shroud; 30 And Sun-beams; and the sounding blast, That, if it could, would hurry past, But that ...
— Poems In Two Volumes, Vol. 1 • William Wordsworth
... It's in that bag there. I'm working on a new set of tools now in my shop. I'm going to get that money back from the two thieves who stole it from me by law. I'll take it by force, the way they took it. If I can croak them both in the fight—well, there'll be two thieves less to rob honest men and ...
— The Foolish Virgin • Thomas Dixon
... called Shikekuro's Pond,—Shikekuro-no-ike. And for seven hundred years, 'tis said, the frogs of that pond have never been heard to croak. ...
— Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan • Lafcadio Hearn
... fixedly). I hear a raven's croak; I feel The icy breath of some strange body when Thou standest burning by my side, ...
— The German Classics, v. 20 - Masterpieces of German Literature • Various
... frog as I am," he exclaimed, "is never safe for a moment," and with a loud croak of terror he plunged into the water and swam away, determined to put a safe distance ...
— Little Folks (November 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various
... no need to test its capabilities further; but I once more loaded it and, walking to where the dying ox was lying, with the circle of vultures closing in around it, put the foul birds to flight, with many a croak of protest from them at my interference, placed the muzzle of the weapon at the ear of the ox, pulled the trigger, and put the poor beast out of its misery, besides saving it from the possibility of attack by the ravenous birds before the breath had entirely left ...
— Through Veld and Forest - An African Story • Harry Collingwood
... only a peculiar skill or gift, but also lungs of brass and a throat of iron. A transport rider without a voice is as a tenor in the same fix. He may—and does—get so hoarse that it is a pain to hear him; but as long as he can croak in good volume he is all right. Mere shouting will not do. He must shriek, until to the sympathetic bystander it seems that his throat must split wide open. Furthermore, he must shriek the proper things. It all sounds alike to every one but transport riders ...
— African Camp Fires • Stewart Edward White
... "Don't croak," said Captain Dinks, who seemed to have quite recovered his spirits as the others around him became despondent. "Look, the snowstorm has ceased already and the sea-fog is rising and drifting away. Why, we'll have a ...
— The Wreck of the Nancy Bell - Cast Away on Kerguelen Land • J. C. Hutcheson
... a leaping fish Send through the tarn a lonely cheer; The crags repeat the raven's croak In symphony austere; Thither the rainbow comes—the cloud, And mists that spread the flying shroud, And sunbeams, and the sounding blast, That, if it could, would hurry past, But that enormous barrier ...
— The Dog's Book of Verse • Various
... mouth was too parched for speaking. Nick's voice was very like a raven's croak, and he licked his dry lips and relapsed into silence. Their spell at the window came to an end. They stepped down, and went to a corner. Two sailors took ...
— Sea-Dogs All! - A Tale of Forest and Sea • Tom Bevan
... sat down; arose and sat down again. He tried to speak, but only a husky croak came forth. Something seemed to have crawled into his throat—something fuzzy and filling, that would not allow language ...
— The Skipper and the Skipped - Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul • Holman Day
... Butterflies Weak at birth; Gloom over, Grime under; Soaked clover. Hail, thunder; Wind, wet, Squelch, squash; Gingham yet, Mackintosh; Lawns afloat, Paths dirt; Top-coat, Flannel shirt; Lilacs drenched, Laburnums pallid; Spirits quenched, Souls squalid; Tennis "off," Icy breeze; Croak, cough, Wheeze, sneeze; Cramped cricket, Arctic squall; Drenched wicket, Soaked ball; Park a puddle. Row a slough; Muck, muddle, Slush, snow; Hay-fever (No hay!) Spoilt beaver, Shoes asplay; Lilies flopping, Washed-out roses; Eaves dropping, Red noses; ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, 13 June 1891 • Various
... to arms! Let the battle-cry rise, Like the raven's hoarse croak, through their ranks let it sound; Set their knell on the wing of each arrow that flies, Till the shouts of the free shake the mountains around; Let the cold-blooded, faint-hearted changeling now tremble, For the war-shock shall reach to his dark-centered cave, While ...
— The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume IV. - The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century • Various
... a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were none left to croak ...
— Aesop's Fables • Aesop
... better; one for all, and all for one, One soul! and therefore have we shatter'd back The hugest wave from Norseland ever yet Surged on us, and our battle-axes broken The Raven's wing, and dumb'd his carrion croak From the gray sea for ever. Many are gone— Drink to the dead who died for us, the living Who fought and would have died, but happier lived, If happier be to live; they both have life In the large mouth of England, till her voice Die ...
— Queen Mary and Harold • Alfred Lord Tennyson
... want any shavelings here,' he grumbled. 'They're enough to make one croak. Mind, doctor, no priests, and no physics when I go off, or we shall quarrel. Let him come in, however, ...
— Abbe Mouret's Transgression - La Faute De L'abbe Mouret • Emile Zola
... this time, you won't have to again," said T. B. knowingly. "He'll croak up there, mark my word. Says he never ties the burro at night now, for fear he might be called sudden, and the beast would starve. I guess that animal could eat a lariat rope, all right, ...
— Song of the Lark • Willa Cather
... plain that this person, in the course of her reflections on life, was regarding her own case, and had arrived at the conviction that in order to preserve herself from the mockeries of life, she was not in a position to do anything else but simply "croak"—to use ...
— Best Russian Short Stories • Various
... back—and then wanted to know who in thunder I was. They almost dropped dead when I told 'em. No question about it, that address was a stall. This dame had something up her sleeve, and took care to see that your taxi man was given a long drive so she'd have plenty of time to croak Warren." ...
— Midnight • Octavus Roy Cohen
... said Sugarman with a little croak of victory, "I have told her the story before. When the Almighty Shadchan was making marriages in Heaven, before we were yet born, the name of my wife was coupled with my own. The spirit of her eldest ...
— Children of the Ghetto • I. Zangwill
... ear, and he angrily turned round: 'Foul-mouthed raven, peace with thy traitor croak!' but Bedford caught ...
— The Caged Lion • Charlotte M. Yonge
... mean?" retorted Gayford; "a lot you've done for the public good. There are plenty of seagulls about without you to croak, too." ...
— Parkhurst Boys - And Other Stories of School Life • Talbot Baines Reed
... One of them claimed to have done wonders with an iron hoop and a file in 1867; a second had a marvellous table with glass legs; a third swore that he had made a telephone in 1860, but did not know what it was until he saw Bell's patent; and a fourth told a vivid story of having heard a bullfrog croak via a telegraph wire which was strung into a certain cellar in Racine, ...
— The History of the Telephone • Herbert N. Casson
... milk pail on his arm. At sight of Margarita his jaw dropped, he shivered violently and appeared ready to faint, but as she called encouragingly to him he mustered courage to approach and feel of her skirt timidly. He was evidently feeble-minded as well as dumb, for with a sort of croak he dropped the bucket and began to dance clumsily up and down, snapping his fingers the while. Plainly he had thought her gone for good ...
— Margarita's Soul - The Romantic Recollections of a Man of Fifty • Ingraham Lovell
... voice hoarse and thick with rheum, a voice like the croak of a crow, "though it is little thanks to your Excellency. Those must be strong who can bathe in Rhine water through a hole in the ice ...
— Lysbeth - A Tale Of The Dutch • H. Rider Haggard
... May, when the joy of living fairly intoxicates one, and every bird's throat is swelling with happy music, who but a Calvinist would croak dismal prophecies? In Ireland, old crones tell marvellous tales about the hawthorns, and the banshees which have ...
— Wild Flowers Worth Knowing • Neltje Blanchan et al
... colony of French possess the Court, Pimps, priests, buffoons, i' the privy-chamber sport. Such slimy monsters ne'er approached the throne Since Pharaoh's reign, nor so defiled a crown. I' the sacred ear tyrannic arts they croak, Pervert his mind, his good intentions choke; Tell him of golden Indies, fairy lands, Leviathan, and absolute commands. Thus, fairy-like, the King they steal away, And in his room a Lewis changeling lay. How oft have ...
— Andrew Marvell • Augustine Birrell
... with her early morning croak to call Miss Juliana; she had dumped down the hot-water can in the basin with a clash, pulled up the blind with a jerk, and drawn back the curtains with a clatter, before she noticed that Miss Juliana was up ...
— Superseded • May Sinclair
... him in privacy," said the criminal, despair seeming to croak in his accent as he uttered ...
— Quentin Durward • Sir Walter Scott
... even of the most incurious — they spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish; and, when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows and daws swagger in their ...
— The Natural History of Selborne • Gilbert White
... his upland valley, of the ‘ridged wolds’ that rose above his home, of the mountain-glen and snowy summits of his early dreams, and of the beings, heroes and fairies, with which his imaginary world was peopled. Then was heard the ‘croak of the raven,’ the harsh voice of ...
— Old Familiar Faces • Theodore Watts-Dunton
... of the British Columbia boys who were there. Sergeants Potentier, George Fitz, and Mudge, of Grand Forks; Reid, Diplock, and Johnson, of Vancouver; Munroe and Wildblood, of Rossland; Keith, Palmer, Larkins, Scott, and Croak. Captain Scudamore, my Company Captain, came over to where I sat, and kindly inquired about my wounds. He wrote down my father's address, too, and said he would try to ...
— Three Times and Out • Nellie L. McClung
... moments to croak, Since the Saxon's new plan of a word and a stroke. My mind is made up, like a poodle or pug, No longer to stir from my berth on the rug; Though the bold may revile me, so let them revile— I'm determined to live for old ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV. • Various
... the verandah beside her,—"Poor Poll, Pretty Poll"—came from the thin, pretty coral lips. Poll, thrust his head on one side, and looked almost calculatingly upon the svelte figure of his mistress, and said in a meaning croak, "come to dinner—the ...
— Honor Edgeworth • Vera
... that little animal's, and therefore she was uglier than ever: she looked like a miserable dwarf, with a frog's head and webbed fingers. There was something very sad in her eyes; voice she had none except a kind of croak like a child sobbing in its dreams. Then would the Viking's wife take her in her lap; she would forget the ugly form, and look only at the melancholy eyes; and more than once ...
— The Sand-Hills of Jutland • Hans Christian Andersen
... two would sit through the hot, still evening, their arms about each other, watching the moon rise over the foothills, listening to the trickle of the water in the moss-encrusted fountain in the garden, and the steady croak of the great frogs that lived in the damp north corner of the enclosure. Through all one summer the enchantment of that new-found, wonderful love, pure and untainted, filled the lives of each of them with its sweetness. The summer passed, ...
— The Octopus • Frank Norris
... now his dwelling-place, A stone his pillow, and the earth his bed, His earthen alms-bowl holding all his stores Except the crystal waters, murmuring near. A lonely path, rugged, and rough, and steep; A lonely cave, its stillness only stirred By eagle's scream, or raven's solemn croak, Or by the distant city's softened sounds, Save when a sudden tempest breaks above, And rolling thunders shake the trembling hills— A path since worn by countless pilgrims' feet, Coming from far to view this hallowed spot, And bow in worship on his hard, cold bed, And press his ...
— The Dawn and the Day • Henry Thayer Niles
... send some word home, old man?' says I, to cheer him up; for don't you see, I allowed we was all in the drink—just tumble to what an old tub she was—117 of us at the start, and we all croak but me and the moke—the ...
— David Lockwin—The People's Idol • John McGovern
... what they're called. All I know is I'll croak Quintana if he even turns up askin' for 'em. He frisked somebody. I frisked him. I'll kill anybody who ...
— The Flaming Jewel • Robert Chambers
... shelter of the palms he drew her savagely to him. "Let's—let's go outside." His voice was little more than a croak. ...
— A Bottle of Old Wine • Richard O. Lewis
... wounded and bleeding, too!" The gang stood back for a minute; then up spoke Poker Bill: "Young man, yer a stranger, I reckon. We don't wish yer any ill; But come out of the range of the Greaser, or, as sure as I live, you'll croak;" And he drew a bead on the stranger. I'll tell yer it wa'n't no joke. But the stranger moven' no muscle as he looked in the bore of Bill's gun; He hadn't no thought to stir, sir; he hadn't no thought to run; But he spoke out cool and quiet, "I might live for a thousand ...
— Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp • Various
... language,—after all, is but little better than the croak and cackle of fowls, and other utterances of brute nature, sometimes not ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 110, December, 1866 - A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics • Various
... whispered—and whilst he was speaking there came a dismal croak, croak, and the swaying and crying of ...
— The Sorcery Club • Elliott O'Donnell
... Philip, staring ruefully into the pipe-bowl, "the infernal thing is bottomless! Exit another can of tobacco. I'll have to ask Johnny to buy me a barrel." And Philip flung the empty can into the pool whence a frog leaped with a frightened croak. ...
— Diane of the Green Van • Leona Dalrymple
... away all specimens, sits the 'watch-bird,' or apateplu, so called from his cry; he is wary and cunning, but we bagged two. The 'clock-bird,' supposed to toll every hour, has a voice which unites the bark of a dog, the caw of a crow, and the croak of a frog: he is rarely seen and even cleverer than 'hair grown.' More familiar sounds are the roucoulement of the pigeon and the tapping of the woodpecker. The only fourfooted beast we saw was the small bush-antelope with black robe, of ...
— To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II - A Personal Narrative • Richard Francis Burton and Verney Lovett Cameron
... knew before how melodiously frogs can croak—there is a sweet guttural about some of these that I never heard in England: before going to bed, I remember particularly one amorous batrachian courting malgre sa maman regaled us with a lusciously deep rich croak, that served as a good accompaniment for the shrill ...
— Samuel Butler's Cambridge Pieces • Samuel Butler
... Winkie came to the door and looked out. He was still standing in the doorway when the Frogman approached and said with a haughty croak: ...
— The Lost Princess of Oz • L. Frank Baum
... night air—as was customary in the plains—with short curtains of lawn to screen the interior from public view. Outside, the shrill chirping of crickets vibrated in the air, and the occasional croak of a bull-frog from a pond in the garden, could be heard. Otherwise, the silence of the ...
— Banked Fires • E. W. (Ethel Winifred) Savi
... of French possess the court, Pimps, priests, buffoons, in privy-chamber sport; Such slimy monsters ne'er approached a throne Since Pharaoh's days, nor so defil'd a crown; In sacred ear tyrannick arts they croak, Pervert his mind, and ...
— Calamities and Quarrels of Authors • Isaac D'Israeli
... barreltone. Doing his level best to say it. Croak of vast manless moonless womoonless marsh. Other comedown. Big ships' chandler's business he did once. Remember: rosiny ropes, ships' lanterns. Failed to the tune of ten thousand pounds. Now in the Iveagh home. Cubicle number so and so. Number one ...
— Ulysses • James Joyce
... reason is not always supreme; and many a time he went back with a sigh from his window to his books, and tried to forget the alluring strains of the quadrille and waltz in the descriptions of the lion's roar and the bull-frog's croak in the far-off tropics. ...
— Debit and Credit - Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag • Gustav Freytag
... "Miss Christian!" a raven-croak came through a slit of the pantry-door; "keep off the Carmodys' land! Mind now what I'm ...
— Mount Music • E. Oe. Somerville and Martin Ross
... to walk slow towards a mother an' wife like what mine be, after near a month from 'em; but let's have your news, Billy, an' doan't croak, for God's sake. Say all's well ...
— Children of the Mist • Eden Phillpotts
... do say the same thing," said the prince. "That's true. But so it is the same thing that all the frogs croak before a storm. One can hear ...
— Anna Karenina • Leo Tolstoy
... profits it?—"Nay, but it doth secure it," quoth he, "and that is why I repine at being deprived of it."—And what serenity is this that lies at the mercy of every passer-by? I say not at the mercy of the Emperor or Emperor's favorite, but such as trembles at a raven's croak and piper's din, a fever's touch or a thousand things of like sort! Whereas the life serene has no more certain mark than this, that it ever moves with ...
— The Golden Sayings of Epictetus • Epictetus
... Macdonald's Cochin-China hen, having been driven from its own home by the flood, had strayed into Mr Ravenshaw's house and established itself, uninvited, in the cupboard. It received Miss Trim with a croak of indignation and a flutter. Starting back with a slight, "Oh!" the poor lady fell; and who shall adequately describe, or even imagine, the effects of that fall? Many a time had Miss Trim descended that stair and passage on her feet, but never until then had she done so ...
— The Red Man's Revenge - A Tale of The Red River Flood • R.M. Ballantyne
... the thrush, and we laughed together - Laughed till the woods were all a-ring; And he said to me, as he plumed each feather, "Well, people must croak, if they cannot sing!" ...
— Maurine and Other Poems • Ella Wheeler Wilcox
... hates me. Perhaps Mr. Austin can manage him. Oh, isn't it ludicrous?" and she burst into hearty laughter. It was a very musical laugh, but Crosby considered it a disagreeable croak. ...
— The Day of the Dog • George Barr McCutcheon
... now set in, though we had some intervals of fair weather.[125] The frogs in the ditches, which croak ten times loader than any frogs in Europe, gave notice of rain by an incessant noise that was almost intolerable, and the gnats and musquitos, which had been very troublesome even during the dry weather, were now become innumerable, swarming from every plash of water like bees ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 13 • Robert Kerr
... I never larf, and I never smile, And I never lark nor play; But I sit and croak, and a single joke I ...
— Journeys Through Bookland - Volume Four • Charles H. Sylvester
... she cried, "the peacocks want you to come; they're beginning to jump about;" and almost as she said the words a loud croak from the raven sounded in her ears, and turning round, there, to her amazement, she saw Dudu standing on the ledge of the window outside, his bright eyes shining, his black wings flapping, just as if he ...
— The Tapestry Room - A Child's Romance • Mrs. Molesworth
... mine, Plant thou the vine Within this kindly soil of Tibur; Nor temporal woes, Nor spiritual, knows The man who's a discreet imbiber. For who doth croak Of being broke, Or who of warfare, after drinking? With bowl atween us, Of smiling Venus And Bacchus shall we ...
— Echoes from the Sabine Farm • Roswell Martin Field and Eugene Field
... roll the flowery turf into a seat, And others press the helmet—now resounds The signal—queen and monarch mount the thrones. The brazen clarion hoarsens: many leagues Above them, many to the south, the heron Rising with hurried croak and throat outstretched, Ploughs up the silvering surface of her plain. Tottering with age's zeal and mischief's haste Now was discovered Dalica; she reached The throne, she leant against the pedestal, And now ascending stood before the king. Prayers ...
— Gebir • Walter Savage Landor
... very extraordinary man. I have now twice seen him. Without any thing of politeness, his manners are pleasing, though their freedom is out of the common; and his conversation, though in a half-uttered, half-Cornish, half-croak, is interesting. There is a strange contrast between his genius, which is not confined to painting, and the vulgarity of his appearance, —his manners, and sometimes of his language. You will however easily conceive that a man who can paint like Opie, must display the same taste on other ...
— Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey • Joseph Cottle
... that a raven's croak, or my son's voice? No matter which; I'll to the grave and hide me. Earth open, or I'll tear thy bowels up. Hark! he goes on, and blabs ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Vol. 6 (of 18) - Limberham; Oedipus; Troilus and Cressida; The Spanish Friar • John Dryden |
