Sonnet: Vie Not With Others

So light is the wood of the willow-tree, Yet, strong enough for cricket-bats to make; So hard is the wood of the ebony, Which heavy trunks of elephants dare take. The bamboo-shoot, a musical reed makes, And when ’tis green, elephants eat like cakes; The paddy-straw is fit for just the cow; The tallest grass to wind must always bow. Each flower, frond, plant, tree, creatures on earth, Has a role to play, predestined from birth; One need not try to copy the other; One can do just what one is meant for, brother. There is nothing to vie with the next man; Each one must do just whatever he can.