Poem by Arthur Conan Doyle

To an Undiscerning Critic

Sure there are times when one cries with acidity,
'Where are the limits of human stupidity?'
Here is a critic who says as a platitude
That I am guilty because 'in gratitude
Sherlock, the sleuth-hound, with motives ulterior,
Sneers at Poe's Dupin as "very inferior".'
Have you not learned, my esteemed communicator,
That the created is not the creator?
As the creator I've praised to satiety
Poe's Monsieur Dupin, his skill and variety,
And have admitted that in my detective work
I owe to my model a deal of selective work.
But is it not on the verge of inanity
To put down to me my creation's crude vanity?
He, the created, would scoff and would sneer,
Where I, the creator, would bow and revere.
So please grip this fact with your cerebral tentacle:
The doll and its maker are never identical.

1. «Songs of the Road» (1911). 4. A Post-Impressionist
2. «Songs of the Road» (1911). 3. The Arab Steed
3. «Songs of the Road» (1911). 9. The End
4. «Songs of the Road» (1911). 13. Compensation
5. «Songs of the Road» (1911). 30. The Echo

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