Page:The ascent of man by Blind, Mathilde.djvu/24

 Their rival, and so win the prize Of those impassive female eyes.

Or in the nuptial days of spring,
 * When April kindles bush and brier,

Like rainbows that have taken wing.
 * Or palpitating gems of fire,

Bright butterflies in one brief day Live but to love and pass away.

And herds of horses scour the plains,
 * The thickets scream with bird and beast

The love of life burns in their veins,
 * And from the mightiest to the least

Each preys upon the other's life In inextinguishable strife.

War rages on the teeming earth;
 * The hot and sanguinary fight

Begins with each new creature's birth:
 * A dreadful war where might is right: