Fractured Scripture
Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861)
The Latest Decalogue
Added y10814
Latest minor change 20040220
Retrieved from website
SELECTED POETRY OF ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH (1819-1861)
http://www.qnet.com/~crux/clough.html
ca y10808.
Thou shalt have one God only; who
 
Would be at the expense of two?
 
No graven images may be
 
Worshipped, except the currency:
 
Swear not at all; for, for thy curse
 
Thine enemy is none the worse:
 
At church on Sunday to attend
 
Will serve to keep the world thy friend:
 
Honour thy parents, that is, all
 
From whom advancement may befall;
 
Thou shalt not kill; but need'st not strive
 
Officiously to keep alive:
 
Do not adultery commit;
 
Advantage rarely comes of it:
 
Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
 
When it's so lucrative to cheat:
 
Bear not false witness; let the lie
 
Have time on its own wings to fly:
 
Thou shalt not covet, but tradition
 
Approves all forms of competition.
In response to the promiscuous tablet-mongering of some Republican politicians in the Deep South, Katha Pollitt offered a witty modern take on the Decalogue:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030922&s=pollitt
"Stacked Decalogue" in The Nation, 22 Sept 2003. 
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