Oh the Cleverness of Her

For an Evening Service

This hymn is suitable for

the Vigil of the Enlightenment

~.~

The day that Nature gave is ending,

the hand of Man turns on the light;

We praise thee, Progress, for defending

Our nerves against the dreadful night.

~.~

As o'er each continent and island

The switches spread synthetic day

The noise of mirth is never silent,

Nor dies the strain of toil away.

~.~

We thank thee that thy speed incessant

Provides upon this whirling ball

No time to brood on things unpleasant --

No time, in fact, to think at all.

~.~

Secure amid the soothing riot

Of crank and sound track, plane and car,

We shall not be condemned to quiet,

Nor left alone with what we are.

~.~

By lavish and progressive measures

Our neighbor's wants are all relieved;

We are not called to share his pleasures

And in his grief we are not grieved.

~.~

They winged wheels o'erspan the oceans,

Machining out the Standard Man.

Our food, our learning, our emotions

Are processed for us in the can.

~.~

All bars of color, caste and nation

Must yield to movies and the mike;

We need not seek communication,

For thou dost make us all alike.

~.~

So be it! let not sleep nor slackness

Impede thy Progress, Light sublime;

Nor ever let us glimpse the blackness

That yawns behind the gates of Time.

(Tune: St. Clement)

By Dorothy Sayers