IX
Your priest has stayed the same since the first day.
You always can depend upon a priest:
Whenever someone tries to take the least
Step toward progress, a priest blocks the way.
What happened when an ordinary person
Like you or me got in some kind of jam!
Back then priests threw you into jail, then slam!
However bad things were, next day they’d worsen.
If you invented something great and new,
They’d put you on a rack, tighten a screw,
And quiz you at their clerical tribunal.
Once you were in their grips, God help you, friend:
The only future left you was to end
On the same spot they put Giordano Bruno.
(Translated by John Du Val)