Freethinker
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Although the Preacher be a bore,
The Atheist is even more.
I ain't religious worth a damn;
My views are reckoned to be broad;
And yet I shut up like a clam
When folks get figgerin' on God;
I'd hate my kids to think like me,
And though they leave me in the lurch,
I'm always mighty glad to see
My fam'ly trot to Church.
Although of books I have a shelf
Of skeptic stuff, I must confess
I keep their knowledge to myself:
Doubt doesn't help to happiness.
I never scoff at Holy Writ,
But envy those who hold it true,
And though I've never been in it
I'm proud to own a pew.
I always was a doubting Tom;
I guess some lads are born that way.
I couldn't stick religion from
The time I broke the Sabbath Day.
Yet unbelief's a bitter brew,
And this in arid ways I've learned;
If you believe a thing, it's true
As far as your concerned.
I'm sentimental, I agree,
For how it always makes me glad
To turn from Ingersoll and see
My little girls Communion-clad.
And as to church my people plod
I cry to them with simple glee:
"Say, folks, if you should talk to God,
Put in a word for me."
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 71 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AA BXBCDEDE FXFXGHGH XIXIHJHJ DKDKCDCD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,145 |
Words | 217 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"Freethinker" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32136/freethinker>.
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