THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.
A NEW SONG.
Whether all living things from a Monad have sprung?
This has lately been said, and it now shall be sung,
Which nobody can deny.
It required a few millions the change to complete;
But now the thing’s done, and it looks rather neat,
Which nobody can deny.
To little or nothing at first did aspire;
But at last to have offspring it took a desire,
Which nobody can deny.
By budding or bursting, produced such another;
And shortly there followed a sister or brother,
Which nobody can deny.
They’re a cluster of molecules now, or a cell;
But which of the two, Doctors only can tell,
Which nobody can deny.
And each to itself was both husband and wife;
And at first, strange to say, the two lived without strife,
Which nobody can deny.
And they thought a division of labour would do;
So their sexual system was parted in two,
Which nobody can deny.
The Origin of Species, by means of Natural Selection. By Charles Darwin, M.A. 1859.
The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society. A Poem. By Erasmus Darwin, M.D. 1803.