Huck knew he would go to hell for helping Jim
The Nineteenth Century loved that natural nobility
For young Finn grew wild and uncaged
Neglected by and free from the father

And while the rescue was a decent act
It was no saintly sacrifice
For wild uncaged unpunished and untutored
Huck knew no fear of hellfire

We cast our lot with ironclads
Making investment in defense
And fear the bristling tiger
The retributive imps of the storybooks

Better to remain a child
And never to have sinned
But sinned we have
And take arms where devils die