This work for soprano and string quartet was premiered at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on the 18th November 2019 by Carola Darwin and the Gildas Quartet. Commissioned by Carola Darwin with funds from Arts Council England, the Ambache Charitable Trust and the RVW Trust, this seven-song cycle sets texts by Walter Deverell (1827-1854) and the museum's three 2016 Poets-in-Residence: John Barnie, Steven Matthews and Kelley Swain. The title is taken from Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.