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A Ballad of Hearts and Minds

By: Shane Hunt (third year Physicist)
Competition Year: 2012
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The human heart was once a beast, alone amongst its peers,
And in its fretful dreams at night, re-lived its daily fears.
In the sun a mighty hunter, by moon a cowering child,
It's ears strained, to hear the unknown; afraid of what hid in the wild.

Storm clouds spilled over the mountains; roaring with electricity.
Searching for a path of least resistance, the lightening struck a tree.
The heart on instinct bolted, fleeing the burning pyre.
“Do not be afraid” said a voice from within, and the Mind turned and tamed the fire.


Beast became man, man became many and spread across the land.
When the Heart desired the mind perspired, making use of what was at hand.
Whilst the ground was conquered; from mountain to plain to moor,
those that lived by the ocean, dared not leave the shore.

Though the Heart yearned to travel, beyond the blue expanse,
to lose sight of the coast meant death to most, and survival came only by chance.
But the Mind with lodestone and needle, found permanence in the north pole.
The Heart now sure of direction, discovered its nautical soul.


The human Heart sat proudly, upon it's earthly throne.
But the wick of life was oft cut short, by forces of the unknown.
Kings abhorred the touch of the divine and knaves feared luck and chance.
The righteous and the wretched alike, joined Death in his macabre danse.

Whilst somewhere in the darkness, spores of suspicion infected the Mind.
“Disease must have a cause” it thought, “a cause, that we must find”.
Curiosity bore an idea: to look where there was nothing to see.
With lens they saw, with understandable awe, what the Mind called microbiology.


Mortality now a pace behind, the race around the world.
Understanding sailed from east to west and opportunities unfurled.
The planet was visibly shrinking, as more and more was known.
But a mile remains a mile long, and more away from home.

Man could ride the waves. Fast as the wind that filled his sail.
But radio shot from mast to mast, arriving without fail.
Heart to Heart, Mind to Mind, many become one.
A race of overachievers, striving to be outdone.


No more fearful dreams at night, mystery welcomed like a friend.
All necessity left behind, the Mind began to comprehend.
For years it had sweated and bled, to save the human Heart,
and now the shackles were finally off, the real work could start.
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