There Is No God, the Wicked Sayeth — Summary

Arthur Hugh CloughEftertänksam

"There is no God," the wicked saith, "And truly it's a blessing, For what He might have done with us It's better only guessing."

"There is no God," a youngster thinks, "or really, if there may be, He surely did not mean a man Always to be a baby."

"There is no God, or if there is," The tradesman thinks, "'twere funny If He should take it ill in me To make a little money."

"Whether there be," the rich man says, "It matters very little, For I and mine, thank somebody, Are not in want of victual."

Some others, also, to themselves, Who scarce so much as doubt it, Think there is none, when they are well, And do not think about it.

But country folks who live beneath The shadow of the steeple; The parson and the parson's wife, And mostly married people;

Youths green and happy in first love, So thankful for illusion; And men caught out in what the world Calls guilt, in first confusion;

And almost everyone when age, Disease, or sorrows strike him, Inclines to think there is a God, Or something very like Him.

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Arthur Hugh Clough’s poem “There Is No God, the Wicked Sayeth” is an unsentimental look at how people’s ideas about God shift with their circumstances. A wicked man is relieved there’s no deity to answer to; a young man grumbles that a God wouldn’t want him to stay childish; a tradesman hopes God won’t mind a little cheating. The rich don’t care because they’re well fed. The speaker notes, with a sly wink, that many people don’t even think about God as long as they’re healthy and comfortable.

But the poem doesn’t stop at cynicism. It shows that hardship and vulnerability—country roots, marriage, young love, guilt, old age, or grief—tend to make people believe, or at least suspect, that “there is a God, or something very like Him.” The tone is warm and worldly-wise, never judgmental. It captures the very human habit of reaching for something larger when we need it most.

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There Is No God, the Wicked Sayeth — Summary

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