I wrote this in January, 1967, in protest at a bishop proposing to bless a nuclear weapon submarine, carrying the then nuclear weapon Polaris. I believe I submitted it to the editor of Peace News, but do not think it was published. Apologies for irregularities of metre and rhyme!

 

'At Birkenhead, on the twenty-fifth of February,

I'll be chug, chug, chugging across on the ferry,

To give the blessing of the Church to H.M.S. Renown, the Polaris missile sub.

Who cares if I besmirch

The image of the Church

By joining the nuclear weapons club?'

 

O! Let all the peoples burn and fester,

Saith the holy Bishop of Chester.

 

'Let us pray:may God who has endowed Man

With a seventy-year life span

That he might build Polaris subs., help us so to do Thy will,

Assisted by an astronomical bill,

That this ship and all who sail in her,

Will bring Judgment Day all the nearer;

May our desire to destroy ourselves be respected,

So that Thou shalt meet us somewhat earlier than Thou expected.'

 

O! Let all the peoples burn and fester,

Saith the holy Bishop of Chester.

 

'Let me say, dissenting views to palliate,

To reinforce lessons yet unlearnt,

That Polaris is meant only to retaliate.

It is surely comforting to contemplate

That Polaris will avenge the shrivelled and the burnt;

That our foes will undergo the selfsame fate.

For did not the Lord command me to devote all my wealth

To doing unto my neighbour as is done unto myself?'

 

O! Let all the peoples burn and fester,

Saith the holy Bishop of Chester.

 

'O! Polaris, art thou not the rock on which God's Church is built?

I know we tell the people Christ died for all,

But how could we prevent the Church's fall,

Unless the sacrificial blood of men and babes is spilt?

And just think what might happen to Church unity,

If our foes could destroy us with impunity.'

 

O! Let all the peoples burn and fester,

Saith the holy Bishop of Chester.

 

'The wife of Mr. Denis Healey, Defender of the Faith,

Will fling a champagne bottle across the vessel's back;

O! Lord grant the crew does not mistake

This ceremonial bang for a nuclear attack.

Next she'll press the button – to launch the sub. I mean -

It really wouldn't do (would it?),

If she launched a bloody great Polaris instead of the submarine.'

 

O! Let all the peoples burn and fester,

Saith the holy Bishop of Chester.