Sentimental Hangman
Tis hard to hang a husky lad
When larks are in the sky;
It hurts when daffydills are glad
To wring a neck awry,
When joy o’ Spring is in the sap
And cheery in the sun,
'Tis sad to string aloft a chap,
No matter what he done.
And sittin’ in the pub o’ night
I hears that prison bell,
And wonders if it’s reely right
To haste a man to hell,
For doin’ what he had to do,
Through greed, or lust, or hate . . .
Aye, them seem rightful words to you,
But me, I calls it —Fate.
Lots more would flout the gallows tree,
But that they are afraid;
And so to save society,
I ply my grisly trade.
Yet as I throttle eager breath
And plunge to his hell—home
Some cringin’ cove, to me his death
Seems more like martyrdom.
For most o’ us have held betime
Foul murder in the heart;
And them sad blokes I swung for crime
Were doomed right from the start.
Of wilful choosing they had none,
For freedom’s most a fraud,
And maybe in the end the one
Responsible is —God.
Other works by Robert W. Service...
