" Man is the son of the Ape, "
The scientists say —
" The same immutable laws
That have given the crab his claws,
To the fish his shimmering scale,
And the whalebone to the whale,
Feathery wings to birds,
Horns to the grazing herds —
Preparing each for strife
With the elements of life —
Have lifted Man's proud neck
From the protoplasmic speck,
Builded in ceaseless time
From the warm, primeval slime;
So came his wonderful brain
From ages of stress and strain,
So came his wonderful shape —
Man is the son of the Ape! "
The Scientists say.

" Man is the son of God, "
The Ministers say —
The Universal Soul
Which filleth the mighty whole
And each invisible part
Filleth the human heart;
And every bird and beast
From the greatest to the least
Was made by God's right hand
For Man's supreme command;
Each strange and beautiful sight
Created for his delight;
All that is ripe and sweet
So ordered for him to eat
Out of the sinless Whole
Cometh the sinful soul —
Divinity shut in a clod —
Man is the son of God! "
The ministers say.

The Scientists say
" All Man's folly and crime
Are regular fruits of Time,
Following without pause
The same immutable laws
Vain is the struggle, vain,
With sin and sorrow and pain;
Steadily, out of the dust
Man climbs, because he must.
Slowly, with Time's release,
Cometh the age of peace;
No conscious struggle of man
Can hasten the mighty plan
Let him be still and bow
To Law that reigneth now;
Suffer, be still, and die,
Waiting for by and by.
All man's folly and crime
Are regular fruits of Time, "
The Scientists say

The Ministers say,
" This life of labor and dole
Is the punishment of the soul
For the soul's original sin;
Man must ever begin
From the cradle and the breast
A struggle that has no rest;
A single-handed fight
Against this world's delight;
A never-ending strife
With all the joys bf life,
While God shines on his throne
And the Devil claims his own;
By his own might and God's grace
He must fight for a higher place;
From the cradle to the grave
He must wrestle his soul to save
This life of labor and dole
Is the punishment of the soul!
The Ministers say

Whoso heedeth the one
Hath no joy under the sun
He findeth this world a fetter
That keepeth him from a better;
He liveth in endless din
Of strife and shame and sin
And doeth naught to mend it,
But waiteth for Death to end it
Whoso heedeth the other
Calleth the worm his brother;
He findeth this world a fetter
And believeth there is no better;
He liveth in endless din
Of strife and shame and sin,
And doeth naught to mend it
But waiteth for Time to end it.

Helpless product of Law —
What is thy Reason for? —
Why art thou helpless still?
Where is the Human Will
Boundless, exhaustless, free,
Based on Divinity?
Pitiful prey of sin —
Hast thou no brain within?
Canst thou not learn at last
Out of the groaning past
That thy mad woes have cause
In Nature's broken laws?
Fool, the son of the Ape!
Sinner, the son of God!
Spirit, in earth-born shape!
Beast in a soul-filled clod!
Child of a wondrous birth,
Link between Heaven and Earth,
Creature of crime and sloth —
Thou art the son of Both!