Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, December 1924 · page 38 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #67 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This poem satirizes moral hypocrisy and self-righteous judgment. The illustrated smokehouse (a humble, working-class structure) frames rustic commentary on human nature. The piece critiques how society harshly condemns those who fail morally while ignoring the struggles that led to their failings. It contrasts the "jackals"—people who publicly denounce sinners from positions of assumed moral superiority—with the speaker, who honestly acknowledges his own weakness. The central irony: those "who have never been caught" are the harshest judges, yet this merely means they haven't been *exposed*, not that they're virtuous. The poem argues for compassion and humility, suggesting that everyone struggles and stumbles; the real moral failing lies in judging others without acknowledging one's own capacity for sin. This reflects early 20th-century American attitudes about class, morality, and Christian mercy versus Pharisaic judgment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SMOKEHOUSE POETRY Sinners and Saints WHEN some fellow yields to temptation, And breaks a convention or law We look for no good in his make-up But, my, how we pick at the flaw. Nobody asks how he was tempted, Nor allows for the battle he fought; His name becomes food for those Jackals— The ones who have never been caught. “He has sinned,” they proclaim from the housetops— They forget the good he has done; They tell how he lost his last battle, They forget the times that he won. “Come hither and gaze on the sinner, And by his example be taught That primrose paths lead to the devil,” Cry those who have never been caught. I’m a sinner, Oh Lord, and I know it! I am weak and I blunder and fail As I’m tossed here and there on life’s ocean Like a ship that is caught in a gale. And I’m willing to trust in Thy mercy, Whose blood our forgiveness once bought, But deliver me Lord from the judgment Of those who have never been caught. [33]