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.