AFrannk · 22 February 2001

I heard this poem for the first time, about 40 years ago. I have since looked for it, off and on, but have never found a copy of it until now. Thank you so much for including it in your list. Frank Farmer

Chris_and_Lauren Magaldi · 12 April 2001

My favorite poem! I found it a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. Thank you for including it.

Shrmpee · 16 December 2001

Hi,

As a collector or unusual and rare books and poems I stumbled across a hard bound copy of EVOLUTION and was also intriqued by it’s beauty and subject matter. The copy I found was in pretty good shape in a Utica, New York attic home and owned by a reader dating it 1913. Copyright on the slim volume is 1909 by L.E. Basset and Company, Boston. The forward and aft was written by Lewis Allen Browne and gives more insight into the poet and accomplishments of Smith. The forward mentions that he was born in Kentucky in 1858, but no mention of his birth in Scotland as reported. He served in the Comanche and Apache wars as a trooper and reported these campaigns to the New York Herald paper. He also went to Cuba as a correspondent for the Herald. He wrote “On the Pan Handle”- a novel. If anyone has info on this book, I’d be interested! Anyone can write me for more.

Carl Fredholm · 22 December 2001

I found this poem about four years ago in the poetry book, A Treasury of the Familiar, and I’ve loved it from that day forward. Thank you for putting it on the net.

glady morgan

VeggyStan · 22 December 2001

Very romantic poem. My Ex-wife and I both loved it (as Agnostics). But she’s gone and all I have is the beauty of the words. Veggystan @aol.com

Gene Thorne · 7 March 2002

The bio given above by Jose for the author differs sharply from the one given by Martin Gardner (of Scientific American fame) in his essay “When You Were a Tadpole and I was a Fish”. This essay was originally printed in the Antioch Review for Fall 1962 and reprinted in Gardner’s Order and Surprise (Oxford University Press 1984) - which is where I read it. According to Smith’s bio in Who’s Who in America 1906-07, Smith was born on January 4, 1858 in Kentucky. For more details please see the essay, but interestingly Smith spent most of his career as a journalist for various newspapers, including the New York Herald. This is about the only common factor I see between Gardner’s and Jose’s bios. There are enough differences that I am sure Jose’s Smith and Gardner’s Smith are two different people. I have no idea which one really wrote the poem, but I would love to know more details. Jose, what is the source of your biographical sketch?
-Gene

Lars_Olof.Bjorn · 15 March 2002

I have known and loved “Evolution” for a long time. I first encountered it in “The Pocket Book of Popular Verse” printed in New York in 1945. It is one of the most beautiful love poems I know. I made a Swedish translation and read it at my wife’s PhD graduation luncheon; this translation has since been published with illustrations in the journal Forskning och Framsteg (1986, issue 2) and reprinted in another journal. In connection with this publication I found some other material concerning the poem in our university library. There is a German and a Danish translation, but I remember that I did not think that they are very good and not accurate. Smith wrote his poem during many years, and he read it at his wife’s birthday at Delmonico’s restaurant in New York, which explains the fourth stanza from the end. I hope that Delmonico’s have the poem on the wall (if the restaurant still exists); we do in our university department.

Lars Olof Bjorn, retired botany professor

Dawn Marie Bowles · 15 April 2002

I’ve only been able to find “Evolution” in The Best Loved Poems of the American People published in 1936 by Doubleday. It is one of the first poems I remember reading growing up. Who knows, perhaps it was subconscious inspiration for my love of biology AND romance. My family’s copy of the book is tattered and torn now but no matter where I go I carry it with me. Thank you for putting “Evolution” on the net so that more people can enjoy it. Maybe we can start a trend and then find out more about Langdon Smith.

Tombtome · 28 April 2002

Beautiful! My father used to quote part of this poem at the dinner table, as an admonition to better manners. Thank you, thank you.

dlhinkel · 15 May 2002

I went in search of this poem after reminiscing about my recently deceased grandfather. When I was about ten, we were down in his old farm gravel pit. I found some sort of fossil in one of the rocks, and he recited the entire thing, word for word. This was not unusual, he could do this with countless poems. I can still remember the feeling it gave me to hear him spout off the words as if he had written them himself. Thanks for posting it.

DL Hinkel, Student

Lee Motteler · 28 September 2002

Like D.L. Hinkel, my grandfather (who died in 1956) knew this poem in its entirety and quoted it often. As with many poems and spirituals he had memorized, he did not recall the title. Years later my scholarly older brother found it and proceeded to memorize it himself! I have a couple of tantalizing tidbits to add to the data on Langdon Smith. First of all, the copy I found some years ago and photocopied (sorry, I don’t have the provenance) is preceded by this editor’s note: “The author of this curious poem was a New York journalist, who had formerly been a telegraph operator. Strange to say, this is the only poem of distinction that he is known (to me) to have written.” I’m afraid that’s not much help, and still doesn’t solve the riddle of just who he was. The 4th edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1992), under Langdon Smith on page 651, cites the first four lines of the poem, followed by the source, listed as follows: ‘A Toast to a Lady’ in The Scrap-Book April 1906. So the poem’s title apparently went through an evolution of its own. Some toast, eh? I don’t know where my grandfather first read it, but I’m quite sure it was soon after it was published, as he was about 30 at that time. I have rarely had a poem affect me the way this one does every time I read it. Let’s keep digging (and surfing), and perhaps we’ll learn more! Aloha from Hawaii
Lee

Zane C. Motteler · 1 October 2002

I am the “scholarly older brother” mentioned above by Lee. As Lee says, our grandfather frequently quoted “Evolution”, along with many other poems. He had a photographic memory and needed to read something only once to have it by heart for the rest of his life. I found “Evolution” in a paperback collection of poems when I was a boy in the 1940’s or 50’s. I memorized it myself, and can still recite the whole thing, but unlike Granddad, I don’t have a photographic memory, so it took me a while to learn it. The book that I got it from is long gone, but my memory of the poem is strong. I quoted it to my wife when we were courting, and I still recite parts of it to her. It is indeed a beautiful love poem.

Zane

vze48pzr · 16 October 2002

Ahhh,
Just wanted to read this poem. My favorite of all times. We’re moving and all my books are packed. Thanks.

eaariniello · 4 January 2003

THanks for resurrecting this poem,I had it memorized in high school in the 50’s.I have shared it with every woman I ever loved.They all appreciated it.I have need of it again so am glad it came up quickly on my search.Good Bio on Smith as well.

Martin and Melinda Meadows · 10 January 2003

Funny thing about this poem. I discovered it in the mid 1980-s while in college. I enjoyed it very much and memorized it word for word. One of my favorite poems. Over the years I began to forget portions of it and began trying to relocate it. With the advent of the world wide web in the 1990’s I began using search engines to find it (I couldn’t recall the author’s name). I’ve searched once or twice in the past couple of years … and this morning something prompted me to look for it again. I was pleased and surprised to find this website today. I won’t forget the author’s name again! Thanks!

Martin Meadows

Paul Alford · 24 February 2003

I am an American Indian (Shawnee) When I was growing up my Father would recite this poem when we were camping. It became a part of me. Thanks for sharing. Paul

Kevin M. Sullivan · 10 April 2003

Long ago, during the mid-1960’s, Jean Shepherd, a brilliant writer and storyteller, had a nightly radio program on WOR in New York City. His on-the-air reading of “Evolution” was the first time I heard (or heard of) this poem. In 1968, I purchased a copy of a book titled “The Best Loved Poems of the American People” and was delighted to find “Evolution” printed there.

I still have the book, and I still love the poem.

ChevyHarley765 · 10 May 2003

Evolution has been one of my favorite poems for years. My mom read it to me when I was young and it has stuck with me for a long time. I have most of it memorized, but finding a page like this reminds me that there are some people that you are just meant to know or be with. It is a reaffirmation of all of my beliefs. Thanks for having the page!

Jayme

Robert Magoffin · 11 August 2003

I was introduced to Evolution by my grandfather: he recited it magnificently–it held me spellbound. Then he told me that he recited it to my grandmother when he proposed to her, one night when they were having dinner. The rest is family history. To hear it spoken in all it’s splendor is a moving, indelible experience.

Teresa Kintner Gunnell · 12 August 2003

Just like so many others, I found this poem as a child. My father’s copy of “Treasury of the Familiar” was all but memorized by me when I was little, and I still miss that book. My friend Martin (yes, that Martin!) quoted this the other day and I had a rush of memory. Thank goodness (again and again) for the Minstrels.

tess

Progres51 · 7 October 2003

I found a nice 1909 copy of Langston’s Evolution just the other day. It’s in great shape, and the poem is indeed beautiful. This was actually my first encounter with one of his books, so it’s a pleasant surprise. My book is in good condition and nicely illustrated. On 3/9/1936 someone wrote on the first page “To the ‘Superlative Tadpole,” from a ‘Poor Old Fish.” The poem is a nice find

apbjvb · 13 January 2004

My mother (born l886) told me that my father had quoted this poem to her when they were courting. She married him (nine years later)–but then “Evolution” is a lengthy process. Thanks for making it available. We are using it for a Poetry Reading on Valentine’s Day at our Unitarian Church.

Arthur burgess · 14 January 2004

My father read this poem to my mother (she told me)–some 85 years ago. She married him nine years later–but then “Evolution” i s a slow process.!

Lynn Koiner · 7 March 2004

I first heard this poem read to my elementary school class in the 1950s by a NUN! When I was in college, I found this poem at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I wrote it down by hand. In the late 1990s, I copied it onto a computer that subsequently died. I felt that this poem was lost to me. I am so grateful that it is on the Internet. It is my favorite. Yet, it was listed as being written by Anonymous. Lynn Koiner

Goodier Family · 24 March 2004

Although this appears as a sweet and romantic poem, it disgusted me that evolution was taken as fact and a work of God. Rather, God made us all as humans, not any other way, and our relationship with Him and others is, to me, so much more romantic!

Loveratheart47f · 30 March 2004

“Evolution” by Langdon Smith connects us all through time, space and eternity…it transcends, comforts and quiets the voice of our inner wailing child that anguishes over the destiny of it’s own “end”…My sadness at having to live a solitary life apart from siblings that prefer to remain estranged has been unfortunate and hurtful throughout my years but “Evolution” has inspired me to write and dedicate the following to them: Let us meet in the woods and find our souls among the evergreens, where the earth is our mother and the wind our father, we can roam, our spirits free, rejoice in our lives, in what we have learned and cherish how far we have come, and love one another for what we have been and what we have yet to become, stand close to the fire and away from the chill, and let the warmth sink in, and if we should part, to never forget…the knowing…that we…are one.(written by myself, Mary E. Querey White) Date of this comment - 3/30/2004…loveratheart47f@aol

Sandra Boynton · 2 April 2004

My sister-in-law is a librarian and a patron asked her if she could find a poem called, “When you were a tadpole and I was a frog.” She did a lot of searching and found,”Evolution. She then brought it to our drama group to read and we all loved it. We are a group of 55 to 66 year olds and had never heard it all though we are all well-read(or thought we were.) I just sent it to my two daughters and a good friend. It is a beautiful poem. I tend to believe he probably was born in Scotland, land of the story tellers. A friend in Florida

John Bryant · 5 April 2004

A lovely poem, yes, and amusing to see the upset it caused with an anti-evolutionist (above). In Smith’s time evolution was a much hotter topic, so it is interesting that he grafted onto this theory yet another which is also radical from a traditionally-Christian viewpoint, namely, something akin to the Hindu belief in the transmigration of souls. It is possible that Smith meant this metaphorically – simply as a way of emphasizing the strength of his love, but it is a theory which is believable to those like myself who may be atheists, but who believe in the possibility of the continuation of life after death in some form (‘spiritualism’). It is this belief which makes the poem both hopeful and also deeply sad; for while there is hope that love, unlike diamonds, is forever, there is also the fear that once lovers are disunited, it may be a very long time before they can once again unite.

Gentle Wind Accounts Payable · 29 April 2004

Thank you! I haven’t seen my copy of this in years. I found it when I was four: typed by my grandfather in the late 1920’s, someone had placed it in the family bible. (I later relished the irony of that one!) My grandfather, too, could recite it by heart, as I found when I asked him to read it to me. I was educated by progressive nuns who also believed in the theory of evolution, so it always made good sense to me.

M Leyden · 5 June 2004

I read this poem over sixty years ago in an air-raid shelter when death was all around. It moved andsustained me and even now in my eighties it can still move me to tears and I would like to add my own appendix: “Together throughout eternity we follow nature’s wish; forever true since the days when you were a tadpole and I was a fish” Margaret, in England

Maria Mchenry · 27 June 2004

I came across this poem in a diary that I picked up at an antique store. I was picking out names that the author of the diary (1920’s flapper girl) wrote down, and she wrote this poem down and his name. Pretty cool.

maria mchenry

Veronica Houghton · 5 July 2004

I am now retired and my first retirement present from me, to me, was a computer. I first came across the poem when I was a young girl and very much in love. The poem got lost, as did my soulmate, and I only remembered the first two verses. I tapped in a few lines on the search engine and wept tears of joy when I read it. I love the poem it brings back so very many happy memories for me. Although I have noticed a few changes to the poem on different sites. e.g. on this site the line, ‘When over the nursing side’, like many other versions is not the same as I read over 40yrs ago. Which was, ‘When over the nursing sod.’ Which I think is how it was first written (and it rhymes). Also, ‘Where the crook- boned men made war’, was, I think, the original. Best wishes, Vera England.

jlll40 · 23 July 2004

Fascinating to read all this. I am 77 years old and in my family archives there is what must have been a privately printed pamphlet (app. 6”x8”). The title is “Evolution” and that is all the information there is - no author, no publisher, no date. I grew up hearing the poem and loving it. In my copy, the lines in verse six read “o’er the musing sod”. In verse 9, the line is “and cheek by jowl…. In verse 10 the last line reads “Till our brutal tusks were gone”. In verse 12, my copy says “Caroline” crags. Verse 13, “Tremados beds” and “Where the crook-boned men”. This may be nit-picky but I have every reason to presume that my version is correct.

What a pleasure this site is. Thank you.

Elizabeth Langhorne

Eleanor · 27 August 2004

This has always been my favourite poem. Many years ago when I was in University, (University of Toronto - late 1950s) I wanted to do an independent paper on it for a poetry course. I was told it was ‘not critically acclaimed’ and therefore not acceptable to the professor for my project. I was devastated at the time and felt quite angry towards the entire educational establishment as a result. To this day, I think it was an unfair decision. .

At that time, I went so far as to find out that Langdon Smith was born in Kentucky and that he married a woman quite a bit younger than himself named Marie Antoinette WRIGHT in New York City in the late 1890s. Although I no longer have my actual research, I remember that the dates worked out so that he would have written the poem shortly after his marriage, making her presumably the inspiration behind the poem.

Once I had that information, I think I really wanted to find out more, or at least as much, about her as I did about him. What I found really intriguing was the incongruity of her name - with its frivolous connotations - that seemed so much at odds with the sentiment of the poem. Of course, she may have spent her life trying to live down her name and because of it rather than in spite of it, perhaps she was a very deep, thoughtful, philosophical person.

Or maybe she was the epitome of everything the name Marie Antoinette suggests - and maybe it was that superficial quality that Smith recognized in himself. Even frivolous people can have soul mates.

If anyone has any further thoughts on this, I’d be delighted to hear from them.

Eleanor

Ktgm4 · 7 October 2004

I like your ending of this was one of my late husband;s favorite poems and as we were and are very much soul mates I’m sure we go back to the tadpole and the fish.

Melanie Cravens · 28 January 2005

I discovered this poem in my Literature book in Jr. High School in the late 1970’s. I loved it then and I love it now. I hadn’t thought of it in years but for some reason the other day, I asked my teenaged sons if they’d heard of it and quoted the first lines. They had no idea what I was talking about. Thank you for putting it up here. Now I can show them that their mother does know something! And I can share it with my soulmate, their father.

I’ve always thought that what this poem says is beautiful. A love so strong and deep that it’s not just for this lifetime, but goes back to the beginnings of time, and will last through all the rest of time.

Melanie

bolandcrafts · 11 April 2005

I recited this poem to the love of my life, one magical sunny day, many years ago, on the shores of a small water park. Alas, the most WONDERFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD is no longer with me but memories of her are undiminished. The words of this poem fill me at once with sadness and warmth, recreating that perfect moment in time, when the sun shone and love blossomed.

Ed Mulrenin · 14 July 2005

In 1965, when I was in college, my aunt’s boss dictated this poem to her from memory, as he had misplaced his only copy of it years before. My aunt gave the poem to my mother and she, in turn, showed it to me. I immediately committed it to memory. Since then, even to this day, I am always at the ready with this poem when the right person shows up. I really cannot count the number of woman I’ve recited it to, but the number would be high (there was one guy too — Joe Hansen — a college buddy who was so impressed that I knew such a long, beautiful poem that every time we got together he would plead with me to recite it and I, awkwardly nonetheless, would comply). Until the Internet came along, I could never find this poem written anywhere and, in fact, didn’t know who wrote it since it was ascribed to “anonymous.” Now I know who wrote it; and now I know there are many others who were seized as much by this poem as I was, still am. And I still remember when I recited it at a poem I went to in the ‘60’s, in the mellow light at Delmonico’s (although I forget whom I recited it to, but that doesn’t matter). And on places like Ayers rock in Australia with a girl I had just met — the poem still hangs on her wall to this day. Although my memorized repertoire includes the poetry of Shakespeare, Neruda, Pushkin and others, this is the poem that always bekons to come out first and without fail it does.

Thank you for setting up this page to share these thoughts with other “evolutionists.”

Ed Mulrenin

Howard Lehman · 25 October 2005

Hey, where are all my fellow New Yorkers from the 50’s / 60’s who spent many a sleepless night listening to the great Jean Shepard read Evolution? It made high school tolerable the next day, provided you found some other nerd wearing a ‘FLICK LIVES’ button. Good stuff.

Cynthia_Black · 4 April 2006

I just discovered this poem quoted incompletely in the back of a slim volume on the paleontology and stratigraphy of the Middle Devonian “Louisville” Limestones of the Falls of Ohio (Indiana/Kentucky). I roared with laughter and delight. Immediately I looked it up on the internet and found all of your equally delightful comments. Being a geologist and one who’s studied both in the UK and in the US, I thought it interesting that all of his geological references are British rather than American. Much of the nomenclature is even fairly local (Purbeck Flags, Kimmeridge Clay, Tremadoc beds, etc). It seems possible that Mr. Smith may have had a smattering of geology, and, being a man gifted with words, appreciated the poetry in much of its jargon. In a slim, roundabout way, it may support his being from or having visited Britain. I shall post this poem in its entirety and commit to memory! Wonderful! C. Black

VParigi · 18 May 2006

Have you found a copy of “On the Pan-Handle” yet? If so, please let me know if another copy is available. What a treasure that poem is!! Brought tears to my eyes…and really touched me…
Thanks for any further info on Langdon Smith.. Dorothy Parks

David Stocum · 27 July 2006

I first read this poem in a laboratory manual of comparative anatomy 45 years ago. I always associated it with a very special person, but could remember only the first and last stanzas. I’m glad to have it in full again.

JPPARR340 · 17 November 2006

Sometime in the early 1940’s I came across this poem and loved it.

I don’t even remember where I came by this copy of the poem on three sheets of yellowed paper, type written, so it’s not too old, with many misspellings corrected but no indication of who the poet was.

It was put away and not seen for many years then put away again and just recently found again as we are gathering our household together to move.

I finally went on line, a few minutes ago, and after a few tries I came up with your site and want to thank you all for the interesting comments on this lovely poem and the information on the poet.

Jim from Florida soon to be South Carolina originally from New Jersey

Jon · 18 December 2006

I have this poem in the book called “A treasury of the familiar” published in 1959. It’s a beautiful poem that underscores the trancendent love.

M. David Brim · 24 December 2006

I discovered this poem in the 1960’s when I was a teen-ager and committed it to memory. I had forgotten one verse over the years, and am glad to have it avaialble again to refresh my memory and give it to my friends and family. Truly one of the best love poems ever written. M. David Brim

Gouédic · 11 February 2007

Madame,

I found your name on the internet with your comment about Langdom Smith’s poem “Evolution”. I am currently trying to translate this beautiful love poem into breton language which is, as you may be know, a celtic language (akin to Welsh) spoken in Brittanny ( a west region of France). Actually, breton language is in decline but more than 200 000 people still speak it or at least can understand it. I allow myself to get in touch with you for a specific question about Marie-Antoinette WRIGHT who was Langdom Smith’s young wife : Where was she born ? Why does langdom Smith make a comparison between her eyes and Devon ? (“Your eyes are deep as the Devon springs” ) Was she from Devon ? The only Devon I know is situated not far from here (I live in BREST, Brittanny) on the other side of the Channel, in Britain. Is there another Devon ? Why is there so many references to the south of England (Kimmeridge, Purbeck, Bagshot) ?

Excuse my English (I’ve got a lot of work left to improve it !)

Greetings from France

Patrick

Tim Stevens · 22 February 2007

I’ve been looking for this poem for about 13 years, since I saw the first few lines framed on the wall of an acquaintance. I mistakenly thought it was by Langston Hughes for some reason, and thought it began, “When I was a tadpole and you were a fish.” Thanks so much for this site. Beautiful poem - and lovely to be able to read the entire thing!

skasperzick · 15 March 2007

i first read this poeem about a year ago and loved it in a way i have never loved another.i cannot think of anything more beautiful than science to describe love and its indurance over the ages of time.it made me change the way i look at everything in life

ER Valora · 17 March 2007

I discovered “Evolution” in the late 40’s and carried it with me for many years after. I could always recite it by heart, so I was jarred by some of the same little discrepancies in your copy of the poem as Ms. Langhorne was, along with a few more “nits”. In verse 7, an “Aurochs” bull and she was gowned in “:florious” hair. Verse 8, the woodland “dank”, and “Through * brawn and “ (* no “and” here) Verse 9, “with a rude” (add the “a”). Verse 13, “the crook-boned men made” (“make” becomes “made”). “Corralline” is an adjective that sounds vaguely reasonable, but I always thought of “Caroline beds” as being an ancient layer of deposits somewhere. Twenty years later, when I finally got to college, my Anthropoly professor glanced at my copy of the poem with disdain. I guess he only saw the scientific inaccuracies.

Kurt Dreas · 21 July 2007

Jean Shepard, a true yarn spinner. I read all his stories in Playboy mag, in the years 1969-70. I even read the stories out loud to my girlfriends. I was in college – out of town – at that time. We laughed and enjoyed the stories as much as anyone could. I still remember his mothers “rump sprung red Chinese chinnel bathrobe” – I don’t remember how to spell that. Nevertheless, the cedar lake stories w/ Harry Gertz, were priceless. He also wrote for the village voice newspaper too. In one story, he was in Horn & Hardarts ( the automat ), being hungry & poor at the time; he was watching a gentleman there, eating a donut & drinking coffee. He finished the coffee, and one of the two donuts, then left. Jean saw this and went over to the table and picked up the donut, took a bite, looked up & saw the gentleman coming back with ANOTHER cup of coffee.

He also had a show on PBS, back in the 80’s (?), & he referred to someone pejoratively as a “ Twinkie wrapper of life”

Jean Shepard also wrote 3 (?) books with the stories in them. One was called: “ In God we trust, all others pay cash “. I was in Barnes & Noble several months ago, and noticed an audio tape of Jean Shepard’s writings. Sadly, I read the bio, & noticed that Jean died in 1999. I still am sorry about it.

Anyway, that my story, and I’m sticking to it. I’m glad you recognize fine writing when you read it, so do I.

“Evolution” read by Jean Shepard, must have been an experience of a lifetime. I envy you.

The movie “ A Christmas Story” is a compilation of several of his stories. Thanks for the memories.

sincerely, Kurt Dreas @

Rochester, NY. July, 22, 2007.

Robert Maximoff · 28 July 2007

I was delighted to find “Evolution” on your site. I was searching for special poems remembered from my youth. I’m now eighty-three, but sixty years ago when I was a newly-graduated engineer and was working on a challenging assignment to design a natural gasoline extraction plant, I composed a parody on “Evolution” to describe the detailed processes involved. – Not much potential audience, so I never tried to publish it. Even so, if anyone (??) is interested, I found this in an old file:
****
“When you were a mole of pure propane, and I was a gallon of oil, We’d mingle at play in an intimate way on a theoretical bubble tray, ‘Til a process stream carried you away, and I returned to my toil.

“We met again in a stripper still, with love we were incensed, And things were swell until you fell into that damned reboiler well Where your K-value went to hell – you went of uncondensed.

“And then you were de-ethanized where you cut quite a caper, You’d fractionate then precipitate, and as reflux regurgitate Upon a rectifying plate, and flash off in a vapor.

“The last I heard you were going around in a a stabilizer tower. You were making a fuss over a pentane plus, whose name as I recall was Gus,
And never gave a thought to us and my absorption power.

“When you reach storage, think of me and how our love would boil, Do not disdain those days so plain, those times we never can regain When you were a mole of pure propane, and I was a gallon of oil.”

If you or anyone knows a chem engineer, they might enjoy it.

Robert Maximoff