Evolutionary Hymn Poem by Clive Staples Lewis

Evolutionary Hymn

Rating: 3.2


Lead us, Evolution, lead us
Up the future's endless stair;
Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us.
For stagnation is despair:
Groping, guessing, yet progressing,
Lead us nobody knows where.

Wrong or justice, joy or sorrow,
In the present what are they
while there's always jam-tomorrow,
While we tread the onward way?
Never knowing where we're going,
We can never go astray.

To whatever variation
Our posterity may turn
Hairy, squashy, or crustacean,
Bulbous-eyed or square of stern,
Tusked or toothless, mild or ruthless,
Towards that unknown god we yearn.

Ask not if it's god or devil,
Brethren, lest your words imply
Static norms of good and evil
(As in Plato) throned on high;
Such scholastic, inelastic,
Abstract yardsticks we deny.

Far too long have sages vainly
Glossed great Nature's simple text;
He who runs can read it plainly,
'Goodness = what comes next.'
By evolving, Life is solving
All the questions we perplexed.

On then! Value means survival-
Value. If our progeny
Spreads and spawns and licks each rival,
That will prove its deity
(Far from pleasant, by our present,
Standards, though it may well be).

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Savita Tyagi 31 July 2015

By evolving life is solving..... Excellent piece of work. Loved it.

1 3 Reply
Stephen W 31 July 2015

I think this poem is somewhat ironic.

5 0 Reply
Gladwin G 29 July 2021

Ya think? Only 'somewhat'? Of course it's all tongue in cheek mockery of the naturalists.

1 0
Edward Kofi Louis 31 July 2015

Joy or sorrow With the muse of life. Nice work.

3 1 Reply
Ramesh T A 31 July 2015

By this analytical poem the poet clearly reveals the fact that evolution is modification and development for a better purpose in the life of the world! It kindles thoughts towards perfection indeed!

2 8 Reply
Ian Carmichael 12 June 2008

Good thinking material - and the quality you'd expect from Lewis.

6 1 Reply
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