A Poem from Monty Python in the Spirit of the Holiday Season

I found this little ditty, composed by the great Eric Idle of Monty Python, in a footnote in Richard Dawkins' book, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. I recently read this and really enjoyed the book; I learned a lot through the many case studies he recites throughout. I've always assumed that evolution was in general a process that unfolded across milennia, but evolution is happening right now in a noticeable fashion, and new scientific evidence supporting evolution and broadening our understanding of the concept is being uncovered as we speak. Definitely a book that people need to read. If the statistics Dawkins recites are accurate, an appalling percentage of Americans don't believe in Evolution. The frustration that he feels, having to fight an uphill battle in the face of determined opposition, is palpable.

Evolution is a controversy that should be completely uncontroversial. Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published more than 150 years ago and 180 years ago on December 27th 1831, he set forth on his world changing voyage on the HMS Beagle, and though there is a clear scientific consensus that Evolution is the mechanism for the development of life on this planet, many people do not want to deal with the subject at all, and unless the American education systems have changed at all since I looked at textbooks, I doubt that they are of much use in enlightening people.

I would not disagree that Evolution is a pretty difficult concept to understand; I know that I have problems understanding Dawkin's chapters on Evolution at the cellular and genetic level. Overall, his writing style is direct and lively, and for the most part The Greatest Show on Earth makes for a fascinating read. But even if we don't have an example of the evolution of mankind from a single cell creature through Homo Capitalicus, there seems to be a consistent process going on, a process also occurring throughout the world of all living things. I think after all this time its time we got on board the boat like Darwin did. But I'm not too optimistic.

So anyway, here goes the poem, a wonderful parody.

All things dull and ugly
All creatures short and squat
All things rude and nasty
The Lord God made the lot.

Each little snake that poisons
Each little wasp that stings
He made their brutish venom
He made their horrid wings.

All things sick and cancerous
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous
The Lord God made them all.

Each nasty little hornet
Each beastly little squid
Who made the spiky urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did!

All things scabbed and ulcerous
All pox both great and small
Putrid, foul and gangrenous
The Lord God made them all.