NEBULA TO MAN 
And matter here and there is forced to press 
From gas to liquid state, and solidness. 
******** 
From long resistance to her swift career, 65 
Now spins the Earth with outline of a sphere 
With flattened poles ; but from her glowing zone 
A molten core her moon to be has gone : 
And destined though it be to further flight, 
It will remain her constant satellite. 70 
******** 
Great is the uproar in the Earth's contents, 
As change their states the chemic elements : 
And groups, that oft a solidness attain, 
Are driven to their former states again ; 
And nothing there quiescent can remain. 75 
******** 
As lower still the fervent heat declines, 
In sundry parts about Earth's wild confines 
Some masses, cooled and solid, slowly lay 
A crusty covering o'er the molten fray. 
******** 
Now has the struggling crust attained at length 80 
A measure of stability and strength ; 
And trembling lies, marked o'er with gaseous trails, 
And shrunk to humps and hollows, hills and vales. 
* 
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