Not one or two ages sufficed for the feat,
It required a few millions the change to complete;
But now the thing’s done, and it looks rather neat,
Which nobody can deny.
The original Monad, our great-great-grandsire,
To little or nothing at first did aspire;
But at last to have offspring it took a desire,
Which nobody can deny.
This Monad becoming a father or mother,
By budding or bursting, produced such another;
And shortly there followed a sister or brother,
Which nobody can deny.
But Monad no longer designates them well
They’re a cluster of molecules now, or a cell;
But which of the two, Doctors only can tell,
Which nobody can deny.
These beings, increasing, grew buoyant with life,
And each to itself was both husband and wife;
And at first, strange to say, the two lived without strife,
Which nobody can deny.
But such crowding together soon troublesome grew,
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.