Lead us, Evolution, lead us br Up the future's endless stair; br Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us. br For stagnation is despair: br Groping, guessing, yet progressing, br Lead us nobody knows where. br br Wrong or justice, joy or sorrow, br In the present what are they br while there's always jam-tomorrow, br While we tread the onward way? br Never knowing where we're going, br We can never go astray. br br To whatever variation br Our posterity may turn br Hairy, squashy, or crustacean, br Bulbous-eyed or square of stern, br Tusked or toothless, mild or ruthless, br Towards that unknown god we yearn. br br Ask not if it's god or devil, br Brethren, lest your words imply br Static norms of good and evil br (As in Plato) throned on high; br Such scholastic, inelastic, br Abstract yardsticks we deny. br br Far too long have sages vainly br Glossed great Nature's simple text; br He who runs can read it plainly, br 'Goodness = what comes next.' br By evolving, Life is solving br All the questions we perplexed. br br Oh then! Value means survival- br Value. If our progeny br Spreads and spawns and licks each rival, br That will prove its deity br (Far from pleasant, by our present, br Standards, though it may well be).