Regard the Roach
I
Regard the roach:
unchangeable and stout, he was the same
when dinosaurs went out as when they came:
he made no progress, but he played the game:
and now he is the undefeated master,
while man, who came up fast, goes down the faster.
unchangeable and stout, he was the same
when dinosaurs went out as when they came:
he made no progress, but he played the game:
and now he is the undefeated master,
while man, who came up fast, goes down the faster.
No siege of Time can put the roach to wrack:
he travels onward on a single track:
nor fire nor Flit can turn him back,
nor evolution change his ways:
the species pass, the cockroach stays.
he travels onward on a single track:
nor fire nor Flit can turn him back,
nor evolution change his ways:
the species pass, the cockroach stays.
II
Hélas! Great Dinosaur is gone!
Farewell, old, shaggy Mastodon !
Good-by, Neanderthal! Pass on,
Grimaldi Man, and Cro-Magnon !
I shall be joining you anon;
and Roach, by some sine qua non,
inherits Earth, and all thereon.
Farewell, old, shaggy Mastodon !
Good-by, Neanderthal! Pass on,
Grimaldi Man, and Cro-Magnon !
I shall be joining you anon;
and Roach, by some sine qua non,
inherits Earth, and all thereon.
III
When you and I, and each and all, are desiccated archives in a tar
pit, the lowly roach, who cannot fall, shall crawl beneath God’s carpet.
pit, the lowly roach, who cannot fall, shall crawl beneath God’s carpet.