Ambition, and Other Poems/Pot and Kettle

by William Henry Davies

Pot and Kettle

'Away!' I cried, to a spiteful Wasp, Who challenged me to fight;'Would you, a paltry dram of flesh, Attack a hundredweight?Go, little upstart, try your mettleOn some old spider, bug or beetle.'

'Your pardon, Sir,' the Wasp replied: 'If man attacks a God in Heaven,Why can't a Wasp attack a man— Which is the most uneven?This wise discourse, on power and mettle,Should please your Masters—Pot and Kettle.'