Aspiring Ape

I LOVE in man the ape, and not the angel,
The transience that clothes abiding bones!
Kin to the sun and earth, to green things growing,
He’s not content —oh torment of time flowing! —
With dusty chanting before timeless thrones.

To man, the ape has given love and courage,
Dexterity and patience, wit and fire,
A nameless aching of the heart with wonder.
That humble, idiot longing to aspire
Which blossoms in the arts’ vast world of thunder.

Where did the angel lurk in Helen of Troy!
(The monkey’s skull was structure for her beauty.)
What does the angel bring for our fulfilling,
Except a sense of righteousness in killing,
And brag of abnegation and of duty?

To man, the monkey brings an animal warmth,
The lovely gift of life not everlasting,
And talk and laughter and the seeing eyes;
So let no man this ancestor despise,
Who brings the arts, the customs and the trades,
And when he kills, talks never of crusades!