Might was right when Caesar bled
Upon the stones of Rome
Might was right when Genghis led
His hordes over Danube's foam
And might was right when German troops
Poured down through Paris way
It's the gospel of the ancient world
And the logic of today
Behind all kings and presidents -
All government and law
Are army-corps and cannoneers -
To hold the world in awe
And sword-strong races own the earth
And ride the conqueror's car -
And liberty has never been won
Except by deeds of war
What are the lords of hoarded gold -
The silent Semite rings?
What are the plunder-patriots -
High-pontiffs, priests and kings?
What are they but bold master-minds
Best fitted for the fray who comprehend
And vanquish by - the logic of today
Cain's knotted club is scepter still -
The "right of man" is fraud:
Christ's ethics are for creeping things -
True manhood smiles at "god"
For might is right when empires sink
In storms of steel and flame;
And it is right when weakling breeds -
Are hunted down like game
Then what's the use of dreaming dreams -
That "each shall get his own"?
By forceless votes of meek-eyed thralls
Who blindly sweat and moan? no!
A curse is on their cankered brains -
Their very bones decay
Trace your fate in the iron game
It's the logic of today
The strong must ever rule the weak
Is grim primordial law -
On earth's broad racial threshing floor
The meek are beaten straw -
Then ride to power o'er foemen's necks
Let nothing bar your way:
If you are fit you'll rule and reign
Is the logic of today
You must prove you're right by deeds of might -
Of splendor and reknown
If need be, march through flames of hell
To dash opponents down - if need be
Die on scaffold high -
In the morning's misty grey:
For "liberty or d**h" is still the logic of today
Might was right when Gideon led
The "chosen" tribes of old
And it was right when Titus burnt
Their temple roofed with gold:
And might was right from Bunker's hill
To far Manilla bay
By land and flood it's wrote in blood -
The gospel of today
"Put not your trust in princes"
Is a saying old and true
"Put not your hope in governments"
Rranslateth it anew
All "books of law" and "golden rules"
Are fashioned to betray:
"The survival of the strongest"
Is the gospel of today
Might was right when Carthage flames
Lit up the punic foam -
And when the naked steel of Gaul
Weighed down the spoil of Rome;
And might was right when Richmond fell -
And at Thermopylae -
It's the logic of the ancient world -
And the gospel of today
Where pendant suns in millions swing
Around this whirling earth
It's might, it's force that holds the brakes
And steers through d**h and birth:
Force governs all organic life
Inspires all right and wrong
It's nature's plan to weed-out man
And test who are the strong