Battle Hymn Of The Republic-Mark Twain

Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored;
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored;
His lust is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the Eastern dews and damps;
I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps—
His night is marching on.

I have read his bandit gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my pretensions, so with you my wrath shall deal;
Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel;
Lo, Greed is marching on!"

We have legalized the strumpet and are guarding her retreat;
Greed is seeking out commercial souls before his judgement seat;
O, be swift, ye clods, to answer him! be jubilant my feet!
Our god is marching on!

In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch,
With a longing in his bosom—and for others' goods an itch.
As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich—
Our god is marching on.


Twain's later years were often used to show either his pleasure, or displeasure with American politics, ranging from the government to the wars that they had gotten involved in. This particular song is a political satire, which demonstrates his displeasure with the American way of Imperialism.

I believe that Twain is clearly showing a sense of displeasure with the American Government and its involvement with the Philippines, due to the fact that this was written around the same time that America was involved in the Philippine-American War. Twain held a firm stance on his beliefs, and he obviously wasn't going along with the decision that was made at the time. He was strongly against imperialism, and there are examples throughout this parody of a song that was first popular during the civil war.

The quote " I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps—
His night is marching on," to me can represent two things, the doomful mission of the president as Twain viewed it, or the doomful mission of an American Soldier during this violent war, which is often considered a genocide against the Philippines. Twain paints a dim picture through his imagery, and by using the words "Doomful," he is displaying the fact that he believes that although this war is marching on, the goal that America was seeking would bring about doom. This can relate to Twain's strong displeasure for imperialism, as America was trying to conquer the Philippines and make it another territory.

Another part of the hymn that brings up an interesting point is " Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel." While many people have struggled to identify what this might mean, some have said that the faithless son of freedom would have to refer to that of Abraham Lincoln. This would make perfect sense, as the original hymn was originally written during the civil war that Lincoln led. He was not only the poster face for American freedom, but he was also an avid leader of the reconstruction era. With this quote, I think that Twain is completely writing Lincoln off, and almost labeling him as responsible for what was going on in the Philippines at this time. Lincoln often spoke about expansion and freedom, and by conquering the Philippines, expansion was certainly being achieved.

The last important point that Twain makes in the hymn is shown through the line As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich—, which points directly at Twain's belief of America being selfish. He believed that we didn't care for the people over there, but only for the good of America. This is why so many people were lost in this war, and while we eventually took the Philippines, it is clear through this satire and hymn that Twain believed America to be selfish and careless.

While Twain was one of the more celebrated writers throughout history, this hymn brought out a different Twain then I had seen before. At an old age, Twain was clearly more focused on the issues that America was getting involved in, and he often felt the need to voice his displeasure. This hymn doesn't fall short in achieving that, and the theme is clear that Twain was strongly against America's role in the war as well as imperialism.