CRETACEOUS PERIOD 
Now comes a time, when through the land and sea 
Great change is wrought, all slowly though it be. 
And changes great so slow-stepped oft proceed, 
That finite life scarce cares their march to heed. 
But change must come, as shrinks the cooling crust ; 5 
Lands must subside, and sea-floors be upthrust. 
Along new beds must great sea-currents flow ; 
In changed directions warm and cold winds blow. 
Earth's course has ever been but phase on phase, 
Ere since she simmered in primeval haze : 10 
And change in every continent and clime 
Must mark her history till the end of time. 
So where afar the polar regions stretch 
Away to scenes which man has tried to reach, 
Perchance in time some change will slowly come 1 5 
And far afield unhindered will he roam : 
And lands perchance where now soft breezes blow 
Will lifeless lie, entombed in ice and snow. 
Upon Britannia's south uplifted lands 
Which stretch afar, with Francia joining hands, 20 
A large freshwater lake now wide extends ; 
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