Morality.

Robert Crawford 1959 (Bellshill)



Evil itself may be but good disguised,
As many a virtue now was once a vice,
Or held to be such by the moralists;
Or as even in the eyes of foreigners
Our virtues may be vices, theirs to us
As vicious too. We make us new laws still,
And hold that finable and barred to-day
That was but yesterday allowable.
Our neighbours haply no such laws enact,
And privilege what we make punitive.
So right and wrong are still conditional,
And there's no absolute morality
In all the world; for conscience herself is
Full oft but Custom's creature, whom he keeps,
Who sees with him, and hears with him, and acts
As by his power of attorney still.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

36 sec read
142

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIJHKLMNF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 626
Words 121
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Robert Crawford

Robert Crawford FRSE FBA is a Scottish poet, scholar and critic. He is currently Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.  more…

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