Thus when a barber and collier fight,
The barber beats the luckless collier--white;
The dusty collier heaves his ponderous sack,
And, big with vengeance, beats the barber--black.
In comes the brick-dust man, with grime o'er spread,
And beats the collier and the barber--red;
Black, red, and white, in various clouds are toss'd,
And in the dust they raise the combatants are lost.
— Christopher Smart
Contention
