Wednesday, October 6, 2010

larval poetry.

[not so great photo credits: me]

"the veliger's a lively tar, the liveliest afloat,
a whirling wheel on either side propels his little boat;
but when the danger signal warns his bustling submarine,
he stops the engine, shuts the port, and drops below unseen."

an excerpt from my favourite larval poem, about a larval snail of course, "The Ballad of the Veliger or How the Gastropod Got its Twist".  this poem, and many others, can be found in an amazing book i was so fortunate to come by a few years ago (a free giveaway left on a table in the hall in the biology department).  the book is called "larval forms and other zoological verses" by walter garstang. a modest 76 page collection of poetry devoted to the marine invertebrate (and a few vertebrates) larva.

2 comments:

  1. that's so cute! i remember how excited you were to get it because you had always wanted a copy of it! though, this is the first i've heard from it.

    tres cool!

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  2. thanks ry! i know i couldn't believe how lucky i was to find that book! sorry i thought i'd told you the ballad of the veliger! :)
    merci!

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