# The New Decalogue explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A satirical rewriting of the Ten Commandments that exposes the hypocrisy and self-interest underlying conventional morality, turning each biblical injunction into a cynical maxim for personal gain.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The poem systematically subverts each commandment to reveal the gap between professed virtue and actual practice, e.g., 'To steal were folly, for 'tis plain / In cheating there is greater gain.'

### Political Satire

The decalogue is reframed as a guide to worldly success, mocking how religious and moral language is co-opted for material and social advantage, e.g., 'Adore no images save those / The coinage of thy country shows.'

## Key lines

> Have but one God: thy knees were sore / If bent in prayer to three or four.

Worship only one God, because kneeling to multiple deities would be physically uncomfortable.

_The opening line reduces monotheism to a matter of bodily convenience rather than spiritual conviction._

> Kill not—death liberates thy foe / From persecution’s constant woe.

Do not murder, because death would free your enemy from the ongoing suffering of being harassed.

_The prohibition against killing is twisted into a selfish calculation about prolonging an enemy's misery._

> To steal were folly, for ’tis plain / In cheating there is greater gain.

Stealing is foolish because cheating offers a more profitable and less risky way to take what isn't yours.

_The commandment against theft is dismissed in favor of fraud, which is presented as a superior form of dishonesty._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-new-decalogue
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters