23 OCTOBER 1953, Page 19

Evolution

Like tadpoles, aeroplanes outgrow their tails; Now supersonic frogs puff through the sky; Sometimes they burst for pride; when brilliance fails Destruction is a course that it can try.

Those that get through, pass friends without a sound; Sound was a barrier to their speeding thought; Since truth by dialectic can be found, Speechlessness may succeed where words fell short.

Yet frogs put back in water have been drowned, Eaten by hungry fish without a sound;

The tadpoles steer around them with their tails; Steerage may work where dialectic fails.

RICHARD DRAIN