Mmm, y'all may be right about "the creature made of clay" meaning merely mortal, but it is still a fairly presumptuous metaphor, IMHO. My gut feeling however is that it WAS intended as a put-down, to salve his amour-propre. He tried to get her to play Eliza Doolittle to his Professor Higgins, and was she grateful? Not bloody likely !

It has just struck me that the only other song I know with such potent and vivid imagery is Dylan's "Mr Tambourine Man", (and maybe "Love Minus Zero No Limit). Hope that isn't going from the sublime to the ridiculous!

Murray