On the Origin of Species

In eighteen hundred and thirty-two
Darwin sailed the ocean too;
H.M.S. Beagle was the ship
On which he made his famous trip.

There among marine iguanas,
Finches, and exotic faunas,
He made a grand discovery:
The Origin of you and me!

Of Man’s ascent he traced the course
(On wings of science soaring free);
In beasts and birds he found the source
Of Man’s illustrious pedigree!

In eras past, in time unnumbered,
On prehistoric land and sea,
By evidence all unencumbered
He planted us a family tree!

With zeal and stern iconoclasm
He cast away all superstition;
And from primordial protoplasm
He reasoned up to Man’s fruition.

“From germ to fish to beast to man,
By very tiny adaptations,
Survival of the fittest can
Improve succeeding generations!”

Ex-cathedra he declared
This evolutionary creed.
Man, though long by myths ensnared,
Now by science may be freed!

At last, the facts of evolution
Etched in stone became a law
Of nature, and with time’s ablution
Dethroned God for tooth and claw!

So they say (and it must be true),
Although it seems a trifle odd,
Since all our world yields up no clue,
Except what points us back to God.

by Matthew Hanna

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