by a sense of humour: 
                              Witness the droll experiment
                              Of this same scientific gent. 
                              For he, his frugal breakfast finishing,
                              (The eggs and bacon fast diminishing)
                              Noted how o’er his marmalade
                              A Wasp was buzzing undismayed. 
  General Reflection:  We all are apt to be inhosp-
  Attitude of Man towards Itable to the humble Wasp—­
  the Wasp.  That Ishmael of domestic insects,
                              The terror of the feminine sex! 
  The Philosopher shares And our Philosopher, though cool,
  the prevailing Prejudice.  Was no exception to the rule. 
  His Method.  He let it settle on his plate;
                              He poised a knife above—­like Fate. 
  The Blow falls.  Next—­with a sudden flash it drops
                              Right on that unsuspecting Wopse! 
                              Which, unprepared by previous omen,
  A Tragic Meeting.  Awestruck, confronts its own abdomen! 
                              And sees its once attached tail-end dance
                              A brisk pas-seul of independence! 
                              A pang more bitter than before racks
  Dignified Behaviour of That righteously indignant thorax,
  the Wopse.  As proudly (yet with perfect taste)
                              It turns its back upon its waist,
                              And seeks, though life must all begin new,
                              “Business as usual” to continue! 
  A Philosopher’s Remorse.  The Man of Science felt his heart
                              Prick him with self-accusing smart,
                              To see that ineffectual torso
                              Go fluttering about the floor so;
  The Uses of a Scientific A wasp for flight is too lopsided. 
  Education.  So, with remorsefulness acute,
  Reparation.  He rigged it up a substitute;
                              Providing it a new posterior,
                              At least as good—­if not superior. 
  His Process.  He cut it out a tail of card,
                              And stuck it on with ox-gall, hard. 
                              (This he prefers to vulgar glue)
                              And made that Wopse as good as new! 
  Forgiveness.  Until the grateful insect soared
                              Away, with self-respect restored
                              To find that mutilated part of his
                              Had been so well replaced by artifice. 
  Further proceedings of The Scientist,