Philosophy shows us 'twixt monkey and man
One simious line in unbroken extendage;
Development only since first it began,
And chiefly in losing the caudal appendage.
Our ancestors' holding was wholly in tail,
And the loss of this feature we claim as a merit;
But though often at tale-bearing people we rail,
'Tis rather a loss than a gain we inherit.
The tail was a rudder, a capital thing
To a man who was half, or a quarter, seas over;
And as for a sailor, by that he could cling,
And use for his hands and his feet both discover.
In the Arts it would quickly have found out a place;
The painter would use it to steady his pencil;
In music, how handy to pound at the bass!
And then one could write by its coilings pre...