HISTORIC be the survey of our kind, And how their brave Society took shape. Lion, wolf, vulture, fox, jackal and ape, The strong of limb, the keen of nose, we find, Who, with some jars in harmony, combined, Their primal instincts taming, to escape The brawl indecent, and hot passions drape. Convenience pricked conscience, that the mind. Thus entered they the field of milder beasts, Which in some sort of civil order graze, And do half-homage to the God of Laws. But are they still for their old ravenous feasts, Earth gives the edifice they build no base: They spring another flood of fangs and claws. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NURSING HOME: THE CANARY by KAREN SWENSON THE SHELL TO THE PEARL by LOUIS UNTERMEYER CORRESPONDENCES; HEXAMETERS AND PENTAMETERS by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH PATIENCE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE THE CANDLE INDOORS by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THE TEARES OF THE MUSES by EDMUND SPENSER THE DAWNING O' THE YEAR by MARY (MAY) ELIZABETH (MCGRATH) BLAKE |