1. Thou shalt have one God only; who
1. Would be at the expense of two?
2. No graven images may be
2. Worshipp’d, except the currency:
3. Swear not at all; for, for thy curse
3. Thine enemy is none the worse:
4. At church on Sunday to attend
4. Will serve to keep the world thy friend:
5. Honour thy parents; that is, all
5. From whom advancement may befall:
6. Thou shalt not kill; but need’st not strive
6. Officiously to keep alive: *
7. Do not adultery commit;
7. Advantage rarely comes of it:
8. Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
8. When it’s so lucrative to cheat:
9. Bear not false witness; let the lie
9. Have time on its own wings to fly:
10. Thou shalt not covet; but tradition
10. Approves all forms of competition.
* Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Clough’s version of the 6th Commandment is often quoted (out of context!) in medical ethics debates, as if it were a serious claim that it is not right to struggle to keep terminally ill people alive, especially if they are suffering. Such a use of Clough’s 6th Commandment is repugnant, since the poet’s whole point (in that Commandment) is to satirize the hypocrisy, materialism, the selective ethics and self-interest common to mankind in general, and to the medical profession in particular, when it does not afford due respect to the sanctity of human life. [This certainly proves recognizing satire requires intelligence, but engaging in medical ethics debates does not. -jkh-]