JURASSIC PERIOD 
And spite of foes without, and civil strife, 
The insect world keeps pace with higher life ; 
Spreading in countless hosts through wood and brake, 
(And who of insects shall a census take ?) 
O'er hill and dale, by sea and lake and pond, 155 
Up in the air, upon, and under ground. 
About the land some reptiles are in sight 
On hind-legs walking, reared up to a height 
Of twice six feet ; enjoying wide survey 
As Gogs and Magogs of a later day. 1 60 
Scions are these of those weird dinosaurs 
That in the Trias haunted wooded shores : 
Those small-skulled, long-necked, pear-shape bodied creatures 
Possessed of bird, and crocodilian features. 
Nor is their race grown beauteous : nay has rather 165 
From Beauty's path departed even farther. 
But though they have their purpose, not through them 
Is Nature building up her central stem. 
Well off her trunk they are, and off will stay 
Till Time shall lop them, one and all, away. 1 70 
Yet magnates are they here : nor gone their day. 
For though a higher life is on the land, 
It lacks as yet the power to command : 
And clear to keep of brute force such as this, 
Must exercise its wit and nimbleness. 175 
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