Purple Cow - in Literature

In Literature

"Purple Cow" is the name of a well-known poem by Gelett Burgess, written in 1895:

I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.

It was often quoted, and many of his contemporaries aped the poem. One such example, by Englishman Robert S. Kane, typically lacked quite the same bouncy panache:

The purple cow
I have fortunately seen.
It is as you'd never expect
crossed with an aubergine.

Standing on a field
or laid in on a plate
it is not as you'd expect:
cross, and a no mistake.

Famously, Burgess became somewhat exasperated with the success of his poem, of which he was constantly reminded. A few years later, he penned a riposte that became almost as well known as the original. It was titled "Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue" and appeared in The Lark, number 24 (April 1, 1897):

Ah, yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow"—
I'm Sorry, now, I wrote it;
But I can tell you Anyhow
I'll Kill you if you Quote it!

However, the original has, in its own small way, become a classic, and parodic versions are common.