• Saturday Evening Post (January 13, 1934)   "Nature's Wisdom"   A poem. p 59.  [RGTPL]

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from Saturday Evening Post
Nature's Wisdom
by Ellis Parker Butler

My child, behold the elephant;
    Observe his amplitude;
You will perceive that he must weigh
    Ten tons, completely nude.

Observe, I beg, how slow he walks,
    How stately is his pace;
See with what dignity he stalks
    To get from place to place.

And now observe the agile flea,
    Endowed with muscle strength
That sends it hurtling every jump
    One hundred times its length.

My child, how wise are Nature's laws!
    How horrid it would be
If elephants went hurtling 'round
    Promiscuous like the flea.

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