Ogden warned against the panther,
Hillaire and even Uncle Shel,
Cautioned, warned and sometimes bantered,
And to children, tried to tell
Of the many mortal dangers
In talking to unusual strangers.

And I, like them, a poet who
in that grand and fine traditon
Feels obliged to warn you, too
With these words of admonition:
If you meet a Three-Slinged-Flotchet,
If I were you, I'd watch it