The man who became Ragnar Redbeard hailed from Australia. When he arrived in the United States, he penned Might is Right. Might is Right contains a poem titled “The Logic of To-Day.” This poem, and Might is Right as a whole, were great inspirations to Covington Hall, a leading light of the Industrial Workers of the World. Covington Hall wrote his own version of “The Logic of To-day” with an emphasis on union martyrs. Hall’s version, in turn, was published in Australia, the nation from which hailed the man who became Ragnar Redbeard.

Hall’s poem is part of Stand Alone SA1113, Covington Hall’s Satanic Lumberjacks and Southron Rebels.

This poem appeared in the following newspapers (chronologically):

Direct Action (Sydney) Saturday 31 January 1914 p 3
Northern Standard (Darwin) Saturday 24 September 1921 p 3
The Worker (Brisbane) Thursday 11 August 1921 p 3
Labor Call (Melbourne) Thursday 5 January 1922 p 10
The Worker (Brisbane) Wednesday 8 December 1926 p 3
The Worker (Brisbane) Wednesday 19 March 1930 p 3
The Worker (Brisbane) Wednesday 2 August 1933 p 3
The Worker (Brisbane) Tuesday 2 February 1937 p 2

Might is Right

Might was right when Christ was hanged
Beside the Jordan’s foam;
Might was right when Gracchus bled
Upon the stones of Rome:
And might was right when Danton fell,
When Emmet passed away—
“‘Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of to-day.”

Might was right when Spartacus
Went down in seas of blood.
And when the Commune perished
In the selfsame crimson flood;
And might was right at Cripple Creek,
At Homestead, Grabow — yea!
“‘Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of to-day.”

Might is right when children die
By thousands in the mills.
When jewelled hands reach down and take
The gold their blood distils;
And might is right when maidens give
Their love-dreams up for pay—
“‘Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of to-day.”

Might was, it is, it e’er will be
The one and only right;
And so, O hosts of toil, awake!
O working men, unite!
Unite! Unite! For might is right—
‘Tis freedom’s only way—
“‘Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of to-day.”