Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Extra-Terrestrial Life, Controversy, Astronomy, Language, Mental Illness

    Engages with David Brewster and William Whewell's conflict over extra-terrestrial life. Represents Brewster as denying that 'Nature makes worlds for mere lanterns, or fuel' and claiming that 'all planets are swarming with life'. Whewell replies by calling his opponent an 'old Cock' and 'Creation's whole cluster / 'S as empty as you and your volume, Sir D.' The poem ends with Brewster inviting Whewell to 'sleep on it' and Whewell suggesting that Brewster have his head shaved.