A friend references this poem, written by one of Charles Darwin’s granddaughters, comfortably seated in a train, which gives you some idea of the family’s values in general:
O fat white woman whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves, …
to which G. K. Chesterton riposted.
How do you know but what someone who loves
Always to see me in nice white gloves
At the end of the field you are rushing by,
Is waiting for his Old Dutch?
– “The Fat White Woman Speaks”
You need to see the whole of both short poems to get the full flavour, and I don’t know for sure that either is in the public domain.
Note: Old Dutch = “duchess” – a term of endearment. A duchess is a high ranking noblewoman.
Also: Here’s some stuff on Darwin and racism.
Here’s a poem by Darwin’s grand-father, Erasmus.
“No gods, no masters, for Science is now our decree. Just facts, just factors, in the temple of truth we’re free. Our savior, our deliver, a priest in white robes.
The Scientists, the experts, in them lie out greatest hopes.”
Both poems are listed at:
Poets duke it out and
Poems
Justine Picardie explores Cornford’s character:
Creationist complaints about Darwin being a racist never seem to mention that for the majority of Darwin’s life, including while “Origin” was being written and published, that institutionalized racism in the form of slavery was legal in the United States and was a firmly established part of American society (at least in the southern US). Similarly, the English society in which Darwin and his family were embedded was shockingly racist by 21st century standards.
Creationists should stop judging Darwin’s racism by 21st century political correctness standards.
Chesterton’s response:
Why do you rush through the field in trains,
Guessing so much and so much?
Why do you flash through the flowery meads,
Fat-head poet that nobody reads….
Haha. Poet that nobody reads….
How about the response from Housman:
Alfred Edward Housman