Sersmith the DentistDo you think that odes and sermons,And the ringing of church bells,And the blood of old men and young men,Martyred for the truth they sawWith eyes made bright by faith in God,Accomplished the world’s great reformations?Do you think that the Battle Hymn of the RepublicWould have been heard if the chattel slaveHad crowned the dominant dollar,In spite of Whitney’s cotton gin,And steam and rolling mills and ironAnd telegraphs and white free labor?Do you think that Daisy FraserHad been put out and driven outIf the canning works had never neededHer little house and lot?Or do you think the poker roomOf Johnnie Taylor, and Burchard’s barHad been closed up if the money lostAnd spent for beer had not been turned,By closing them, to Thomas RhodesFor larger sales of shoes and blankets,And children’s cloaks and gold-oak cradles?Why, a moral truth is a hollow toothWhich must be propped with gold.
Do you think that odes and sermons,And the ringing of church bells,And the blood of old men and young men,Martyred for the truth they sawWith eyes made bright by faith in God,Accomplished the world’s great reformations?Do you think that the Battle Hymn of the RepublicWould have been heard if the chattel slaveHad crowned the dominant dollar,In spite of Whitney’s cotton gin,And steam and rolling mills and ironAnd telegraphs and white free labor?Do you think that Daisy FraserHad been put out and driven outIf the canning works had never neededHer little house and lot?Or do you think the poker roomOf Johnnie Taylor, and Burchard’s barHad been closed up if the money lostAnd spent for beer had not been turned,By closing them, to Thomas RhodesFor larger sales of shoes and blankets,And children’s cloaks and gold-oak cradles?Why, a moral truth is a hollow toothWhich must be propped with gold.