Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, for there are plenty of others.
Related quotes
Decalogue
Thou shalt no God but me adore:
'Twere too expensive to have more.
No images nor idols make
For Roger Ingersoll to break.
Take not God's name in vain: select
A time when it will have effect.
Work not on Sabbath days at all,
But go to see the teams play ball.
Honor thy parents. That creates
For life insurance lower rates.
Kill not, abet not those who kill;
Thou shalt not pay thy butcher's bill.
Kiss not thy neighbor's wife, unless
Thine own thy neighbor doth caress.
Don't steal; thou'lt never thus compete
Successfully in business. Cheat.
Bear not false witness--that is low--
But 'hear 'tis rumored so and so.'
Covet thou naught that thou hast got
By hook or crook, or somehow, got.
poem by Ambrose Bierce
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Tenth Poem
Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's poem;
neither shalt thou desire...
his metaphors,
nor his similes,
nor his oxymorons,
nor his ironies
his metalepsis
his paradoxes
his anthimeria
his litotes,
ellipses,
zeugma,
anapodoton,
epizeuxis,
anaphora,
pleonasm
nor anything
that is his.
etcetera etcetera
The tenth poem
forbids
coveting the poems
of another.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Latest Decalogue
Thou shalt have one God only; who
Would be at the expense of two?
No graven images may be
Worshipp'd, except the currency:
Swear not at all; for, for thy curse
Thine enemy is none the worse:
At church on Sunday to attend
Will serve to keep the world thy friend:
Honour thy parents; that is, all
From whom advancement may befall:
Thou shalt not kill; but need'st not strive
Officiously to keep alive:
Do not adultery commit;
Advantage rarely comes of it:
Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
When it's so lucrative to cheat:
Bear not false witness; let the lie
Have time on its own wings to fly:
Thou shalt not covet; but tradition
Approves all forms of competition.
poem by Arthur Hugh Clough
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Latest Decalogue after Arthur Hugh Clough
The Latest Decalogue
Worship one true God only, who would run to the expense of two?
Your ruin truly will ensue unless you heresy eschew.
Insisting with sincerity in this wise world, where nothing’s free,
no carven icons cruel should we create, except our currency.
We venture here, in vapid verse, the Third Commandment to rehearse, -
swear not at all, for, for your curse, your enemy seems none the worse.
He who the Fourth Commandment penned, my sins and errors must amend,
but, Sir, on Sunday Church attend – ‘twill serve to keep the world thy friend.
Honour thy parents: that is all from whom advancement may befall.
Be prompt to run at beck and call of all who have the wherewithal.
Commandment Six now follows Five, thou shalt not kill, but none need strive
officiously to keep alive, - and thus fulfill ambition’s drive.
Of all the seven sins that sit upon thy soul when Judgement’s writ,
the last, that’s lust, do not commit – for profit seldom comes of it.
Dame Fortune’s smile you would entreat by guile to guild your golden seat?
Then do not steal – an empty feat when its so lucrative to cheat.
Bear not false witness; let the lie have time on its own wings to fly.
Allow your friend himself to tie the noose which round his neck will lie.
Covet your neighbour’s? ‘Tis sedition. In 10th Commandment’s new rendition
anticipating competition, - sedate his horse with expedition!
25 December 1977 robi3_0147_clou1_0003 PXX_EJX
Parody Arthur Hugh Clough 1819_1861 The Latest Decalogue
SEE BELOW FOR THE ORIGINAL AND OTHER PARODIES
The Latest Decalogue
Thou shalt have one God only; who
Would be at the expense of two?
No graven images may be
Worshipped, except the currency:
Swear not at all; for, for thy curse
Thine enemy is none the worse:
At church on Sunday to attend
Will serve to keep the world thy friend:
Honour thy parents, that is, all
From whom advancement may befall;
Thou shalt not kill; but need'st not strive
Officiously to keep alive:
Do not adultery commit;
Advantage rarely comes of it:
Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
When it's so lucrative to cheat:
Bear not false witness; let the lie
Have time on its own wings to fly:
Thou shalt not covet, but tradition
Approves all forms of competition.
Arthur Hugh CLOUGH 1819_1861
Decalogue
Thou shalt no God but me adore:
'Twere too expensive to have more.
No images nor idols make
For Roger Ingersoll to break.
Take not God's name in vain: select
A time when it will have effect.
Work not on Sabbath days at all,
But go to see the teams play ball.
Honor thy parents. That creates
For life insurance lower rates.
Kill not, abet not those who kill;
Thou shalt not pay thy butcher's bill.
Kiss not thy neighbor's wife, unless
Thine own thy neighbor doth caress.
Don't steal; thou'lt never thus compete
Successfully in business. Cheat.
Bear not false witness-that is low-
But 'hear 'tis rumored so and so.'
Covet thou naught that thou hast got
By hook or crook, or somehow, got.
Ambrose BIERCE 1842_1914 bier1_0002_clou1_0003 PXX_EXX
Parody Arthur Hugh Clough 1819_1861 The Latest Decalogue
The New Decalogue
Have but one God: thy knees were sore
If bent in prayer to three or four.
Adore no images save those
The coinage of thy country shows.
Take not the Name in vain. Direct
Thy swearing unto some effect.
Thy hand from Sunday work be held-
Work not at all unless compelled.
Honor thy parents, and perchance
Their wills thy fortunes may advance.
Kill not-death liberates thy foe
From persecution's constant woe.
Kiss not thy neighbor's wife. Of course
There's no objection to divorce.
To steal were folly, for 'tis plain
In cheating there is greater pain.
Bear not false witness.
Shake your head
And say that you have 'heard it said.'
Who stays to covet ne'er will catch
An opportunity to snatch.
Ambrose BIERCE 1842_1914 bier1_0003_clou1_0003 PXX_EXX
Parody Arthur Hugh Clough 1819_1861 The Latest Decalogue
Latest Decalogue
'The sum of all is, thou shalt love,
If any body, God above:
At any rate shall never labour
More than thyself to love thy neighbour.'
ESTABROOK C G esta1_0001_clou1_0003 PWX_JLX
Parody Arthur Hugh Clough 1819_1861 The Latest Decalogue
Addendum to the Ten Commandments
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife,
Nor the ox her husband bought her;
But thank the Lord you're not forbidden
To covet your neighbour's daughter.
Parody UN known Author 0021 PUNau PUNau_0021_clou1_0003 PXX_LXX
Parody Arthur Hugh Clough 1819_1861 The Latest Decalogue
Decalogue
Thou shalt not lie but don't believe
Thou art required to undeceive.
Earl WAJENBERG
Parody Arthur Hugh Clough 1819_1861 The Latest Decalogue
poem by Jonathan Robin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Moses Unwritten Commandment
That I've yet to meet a living saint I honestly can say
And old Moses ten commandments are broken every day
The laws of god and laws of man few bother to obey
And all of us grow older though few grow wise as they grey
The lust for power and money the greed in us does stoke
And old Moses ten commandments are there for to be broke
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife thou shalt not kill or steal
In the twenty first century to many does not appeal
Every man and woman for themselves and it is God for us all
That's Moses Unwritten Commandment the one many best like to recall
In an age of self promotion where greed is seen as okay
For to help the poor and needy few do go out of their way
And though I cannot claim the higher moral ground since I'm not free of taint
In my six decades of living I have never met a saint.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bank Of Bad Habits
The rumors and the stories of my past I cant deny
Im no saint ignatius but again Im no barfly
The wrong thing is the right thing until you lose control
Ive got this bank of bad habits in a corner of my soul
Bank of bad habits
The price of vice fortold
One by one theyll do you in
Theyre bound to take their toll
The wrong thing is the right thing until you lose control
Ive got this bank of bad habits in a corner of my soul
Last night I said goodbye to a dear old friend of mine
Just a throw back shell beach party, nothin really asinine
Rum and cooked animals and bullshit by the ton
That party lasted way too long and I had too much fun
Bank of bad habits
The price of vice fortold
One by one theyll do you in
Theyre bound to take their toll
The wrong thing is the right thing until you lose control
Ive got this bank of bad habits in a corner of my soul
That bank of bad habits is worth its weight in gold
Time for you to spend that dough
Youre the only one you owe
So put away those alibis
You cant fool that banker in the sky
(spoken)
Now let me tell you about the 7 deadly sins:
1. pride...thou shalt not have pride in thy neighbor.
2. coveting...thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife.
3. lust...thou shalt not lust after his neighbors wife.
4. anger...do not be angry with your neighbors wife.
5. gluttony...do not eat thy neighbors wifes ........popcorn.
6. envy...do not envy your neighbors wife.
7. sloth...do not be a slob.
And the eighth deadly sin is............pizza!
A pictures worth a thousand words just ask a cameraman
And its no sin to stop and look, I do it when I can
But you have to purge that urge to merge
You have to keep your head
Or trouble is what you will find inside some strangers bed
Bank of bad habits
The price of vice foretold
One by one theyll do you in
Theyre bound to take their toll
The wrong thing is the right thing until you lose control
Ive got this bank of bad habits
Its worth its weight in gold
(spoken)
Yeah, were talkin krugerands......dubloons
I was wonderin, um, do you think they have an atm machine for bad habits?
Hmm.
I think Ill apply for that card.
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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He said not 'Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be dis-eased' but he said, 'Thou shalt not be overcome.'
quote by Juliana of Norwich
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Ten Commandments
I believed the Ten Commandments,
Were sins we were not to commit.
And I understand them as 'commands'!
And not to be applied as 'we' see fit!
Some live their lives,
As if these are not legitimate.
And comprehending the opposite,
To inflict upon a consciousness...
An increasingly reflected mental misfitness.
With a clear misunderstanding...
That our Creator is not pleased one bit!
These commandments we should take heed.
And immediately revisit!
I am the Lord your God
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife
You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor
'Look, Yo...
Ain't these 'commandments'?
Ain't these things we suppose to do? '
Noooo! ...yeeeesss, but no!
You are 'not' suppose to do these things.
You are suppose to 'do' these things!
'Oh!
Ooooh!
So, they are commands 'meant'
Not to do what is commanded? '
Let me put this another way!
See my fist?
Even though I am tempted,
To hit you in the head with it...
AND that might bring unto me,
A temporary satisfaction?
Something inside of me,
Is preventing me not to do it.
'Oh,
I see.
Would it be the gun you know I have in my car?
And you know I can command it in minutes? '
Let's just dropp the subject.
'Yeah!
I command we do! '
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Writing is
Writing is
Indigenous
To the Ten Commandments
Thou shalt not kill
This shalt love thy
Neighbor as thy self
So said Sais my
Musing God woman
Of earth woman
Amir in womanhood
Woman wild as Adolf
Hitler and righteous
As Halibuts blacks
As the woman in them.
poem by David E. Patton
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Neighbor, Neighbor
Neighbor, neighbor, why you messin in my life?
Neighbor, neighbor, youve been talkin to my wife,
Tellin her you seen me
Runnin wild the other night,
Runnin wild the other night.
A neighbor, neighbor, theress always one in every crowd.
A neighbor, neighbor, tellin lies and talkin loud.
You better watch your step now.
You might fall off your cloud.
You might fall off your cloud.
Now I was walking down a dusty road
When along came a neighbor of mine.
He saw me walkin with my head hung down,
He just had to stop and pass the time.
Neighbor, neighbor, floatin in the salty brine.
Floatin in the salty brine.
song performed by by ZZ Top
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A German Student’s Funeral Hymn
WITH steady march across the daisy meadow,
And by the churchyard wall we go;
But leave behind, beneath the linden shadow,
One, who no more will rise and go:
Farewell, our brother, here sleeping in dust,
Till thou shalt wake again, wake with the just.
Along the street where neighbor nods to neighbor,
Along the busy street we throng,
Once more to laugh, to live and love and labor,--
But he will be remembered long:
Sleep well, our brother, though sleeping in dust:
Shalt thou not rise again--rise with the just?
Farewell, true heart and kindly hand, left lying
Where wave the linden branches calm;
'T is his to live, and ours to wait for dying,
We win, while he has won, the palm;
Farewell, our brother! But one day, we trust,
Call--he will answer Thee, God of the just.
poem by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
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Maiden June.....
Within midst of time n' bloom,
Being with the fair Maiden June,
Whinst of bells of unity rings,
An' the voice of young love sings,
There at mid-point fullness year,
An' Mays' flowers overseer,
I being at mid-point of life,
Shalt take of thee, as a wife,
For with each mornin' shalt there be,
Rise of Loves' intensity,
Finds of rest on grassy knoll,
An' with beach of sands, we shalt stroll,
As red-breast an' sparrow fills air
An' the warming of skin so fair,
Whilst attire shalt be next of nil,
Of this I shalt take my fill,
Fair Maiden June, let us join,
An' of season not disappoint,
Nor of season waste not a day,
Of said time of fun n' play,
Maiden June, With thee I shalt dance,
Thou art thy summers' romance,
Take heed to this simple truth,
Thou doth impart eternal youth......
poem by Geoff Warden
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Sacred Love
Take off those working clothes
Put on these high heeled shoes
Don't want no preacher on the TV baby
Don't want to hear the news
Shut out the world behind us
Put on your long black dress
No one's ever gonna find us here
Just leave your hair in a mess
I've been searching long enough
I begged the moon and the stars above
For sacred love
I've been up, I've been down
I've been lonesome, in this godless town
You're my religion, you're my church
You're the holy grail at the end of my search
Have I been down on my knees for long enough?
I've been searching the planet to find
Sacred love
The spirit moves on the water
She takes the shape of this heavenly daughter
She's rising up like a river in flood
The word got made into flesh and blood
The sky grew dark, and the earth she shook
Just like a prophecy in the Holy Book
Thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not doubt that this love is real
So I got down on my knees and I prayed to the skies
When I looked up could I trust my eyes?
All the saints and angels and the stars up above
They all bowed down to the flower of creation
Every man every woman
Every race every nation
It all comes down to this
Sacred love
Don't need no doctor, don't need no pills
I got a cure for the country's ills
Here she comes like a river in flood
The word got made into flesh and blood
Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill
But if you don't love her your best friend will
All the saints up in heaven and the stars up above
It all comes down, it all comes down
It all comes down to love,
Take off your working clothes
Put on your long black dress
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hes A Go Getter
Hes a go getter, go getter
When his wife gets off from work, hell go get her
Now Ive got a neighbor that lives down the road a ways
His wife holds down a steady job, he dont turn his hand all day
I know that most of you will know the kind Im talkin about
The kind that rather than have to work, hed rather do without
But hes a go getter, a go getter
When his wife gets off from work, hell go get her
Theres a group of men in the court house yard any time that you go by
Playin checkers and tradin odds and makin jokes about their wives
They wait all week for pay day and they hold the moneys plenty
And the wife thats worked those long hard hours never gets a penny
But hes a go getter, a go getter
When his wife gets off from work, hell go get her
Yes hes a go getter, a go getter
When his wife gets off from work, hell go get her
Hes a go getter, a go getter
When his wife gets off from work, hell go get her
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You Shall Too
Thou shalt ne'er have cause for doubt, toward mine ardor;
Mine sentiment toward thine beautificence is not one with which I may barter:
Naught that thou shalt ever demonstrate
Shall have cause for my doubt, nor for me to hesitate
For even a mere moment, whence consideration thereof is drawn;
Herein lies verbalization of the amity that your beautificence did spawn:
What for hath God bequeathed me, with eyes,
If not to be graced with your Empyrean beauty, and realize
That if not for thee, I would have not cause to so loftily aspire-
As, I have as much cause to covet thee, as I do to respire! ? !
Your's is a beauty more rarified than any earthly jewel:
The magnificent, resplendent Angel, I have dubbed Guzel.
One day my beloved, contrariwise, you shall surely see,
As I unabashedly profess my love-you shall too-for me!
-Maurice Harris,2 November 2010
poem by Maurice Harris
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The Two Voices
There are two voices with me in the night,
Easing my grief. The God of Israel saith,
``I am the Lord thy God which vanquisheth.
See that thou walk unswerving in my sight,
So shall thy enemies thy footstool be.
I will avenge.'' Then wake I suddenly,
And, as a man new armoured for the fight,
I shout aloud against my enemy.
Anon, another speaks, a voice of care
With sorrow laden and akin to grief,
``My son,'' it saith, ``What is my will with thee?
The burden of my sorrows thou shalt share.
With thieves thou too shalt be accounted thief,
And in my kingdom thou shalt sup with me.''
poem by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In Maximum
WOULDST thou be free? I think it not, indeed;
But if thou wouldst, attend this simple rede:
When quite contented }thou canst dine at home
Thou shall be free when }
And drink a small wine of the march of Rome;
When thou canst see unmoved thy neighbour's plate,
And wear my threadbare toga in the gate;
When thou hast learned to love a small abode,
And not to choose a mistress A LA MODE:
When thus contained and bridled thou shalt be,
Then, Maximus, then first shalt thou be free.
poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
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To Lord Thurlow
'I lay my branch of laurel down.
Then thus to form Apollo's crown.
Let every other bring his own.'~Lord Thurlow's lines to Mr. Rogers
'I lay my branch of laurel down.'
Thou 'lay thy branch of laurel down!'
Why, what thou'st stole is not enow;
And, were it lawfully thine own,
Does Rogers want it most, or thou?
Keep to thyself thy wither'd bough,
Or send it back to Doctor Donne:
Were justice done to both, I trow,
He'd have but little, and thou--none.
'Then thus to form Apollo's crown.'
A crown! why, twist it how you will,
Thy chaplet must be foolscap still.
When next you visit Delphi's town,
Inquire amongst your fellow-lodgers,
They'll tell you Phoebus gave his crown,
Some years before your birth, to Rogers.
'Let every other bring his own.'
When coals to Newcastle are carried,
And owls sent to Athens, as wonders,
From his spouse when the R egent's unmarried,
Or Liverpool weeps o'er his blunders;
When Tories and Whigs cease to quarrel,
When Castlereagh's wife has an heir,
Then Rogers shall ask us for laurel,
And thou shalt have plenty to spare.
Magni Nominnus Umbra
St. Andrews! not for ever thine shall be
Merely the shadow of a mighty name,
The remnant only of an ancient fame
Which time has crumbled, as thy rocks the sea.
For thou, to whom was given the earliest key
Of knowledge in this land (and all men came
To learn of thee), shalt once more rise and claim
The glory that of right belongs to thee.
Grey in thine age, there yet in thee abides
The force of youth, to make thyself anew
A name of honour and a place of power.
Arise, then! shake the dust from off thy sides;
Thou shalt have many where thou now hast few;
Again thou shalt be great. Quick come the hour!
poem by Robert Fuller Murray
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Yea, Thou Shalt Die
Yea, thou shalt die,
And lie
Dumb in the silent tomb;
Nor to thy name
Shall there be any fame
In ages yet to be or years to come:
For of the flowering Rose,
Which on Pieria blows,
Thou hast no share:
But in sad Hades' house,
Unknown, inglorious,
'Mid the dim shades that wander there
Shalt thou flit forth and haunt the filmy air.