Dorothy Parker

Once at a dinner party, "Dorothy, seated next to Somerset Maugham, found herself feeling uncharacteristically intimidated and thought that 'whenever I meet one of these Britishers I feel as if I have a papoose on my back.' When Maugham proposed she compose a poem for him, she cheerfully agreed to perform. A paper and pencil were requested and Dorothy wrote:
Higgledy Piggledy, my white hen;
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
That was very nice Maugham said. He had always liked those lines. Giving him a cool smile, she completed the verse:
You cannot persuade her with gun or lariat
To come across for the proletariat.
Maugham chuckled with delight.
(from the biography by Marion Meade)