Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.

The Latest Decalogue

Clough, Arthur Hugh

Arthur Hugh Clough

(English poet and scholar, friend of Tennyson and Matthew Arnold, 1819–1861)

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.

Honor 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.