And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic,

Was beat with fist instead of a stick ;
Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling,
And out he rode a-colonelling.

A wight* he was, whose very sight would
Entitle him mirror of knighthood,

That never bowed his stubborn knee

To anything but chivalry,

Nor put up blow but that which laid
Right worshipful on shoulder-blade.

hero of the poem. The original 15, 16. Nor put up blow... shoulder-blade.

is supposed to have been Sir
Samuel Lake, in whose family
Butler lived for some time after
the civil war, and who was a

"Put up" = put up with. The reference is to the blow the king laid on his shoulder with a sword when he was knighted.

LITERARY ANALYSIS.—7. drum ecclesiastic. What figure is "drum?" (See Def. 20.)-Observe the mock-majesty of placing the epithet after the noun.

7, 8. ecclesiastic... a stick. It will be noted that each of these lines contains a redundant syllable; or, in the language of prosody, they are hypermeters.-The speaking of "a stick" as one word with the stress upon a heightens the burlesque effect.

II. wight. Does this word belong to the grave or the burlesque style? What term would probably be used in the grave style?

13. stubborn knee. Why "stubborn?"

19. to wear it out. Observe how the image suggested by this phrase is carried out in the simile in the last part of the sentence.

20

LITERARY ANALYSIS.—23-26. Besides... whistle. Point out the two ludicrous comparisons in this sentence.-How is the ridiculous effect heightened by the rhymes?

34. A hair 'twixt south, etc. What term, expressing the idea in this sentence, do we often apply to a person who makes needlessly fine distinctions?

40. a lord may be an owl. What is the effect intended?

What is the figure of speech? (See Def. 20.) (See Def. 27.)

25

3C

35

40

A calf an alderman, a goose a justice,
And rooks committee-men and trustees.
He'd run in debt by disputation,
And pay with ratiocination.
All this by syllogism, true

In mood and figure, he would do.
For rhetoric, he could not ope

His mouth but out there flew a trope;
And when he happened to break off
I' th' middle of his speech, or cough,
H' had hard words ready to show why,
And tell what rules he did it by ;
Else, when with greatest art he spoke,
You'd think he talked like other folk;
For all a rhetorician's rules

45

50

55

Teach nothing but to name his tools.

But when he pleased to show 't, his speech
In loftiness of sound was rich-

A Babylonish dialect

Which learned pedants* much affect:

42. committee-men. During the English | 46. In mood and figure. “Mood” and

'figure" have reference to the nature and the order of the three propositions in a syllogism.

47. ope = open.

civil war there were formed, in several counties siding with Parliament, committees composed of such men as were for the "good cause," as it was called. 44. ratiocination, formal reasoning. 45. syllogism, the regular logical form of every argument, consisting of three propositions, of which 59. Babylonish dialect, the sort of jargon the first two are called premises, and the last the conclusion.

48. trope, a certain class of figures of speech, as metaphor, synecdoche, etc.

spoken at Babel after the con. fusion of tongues.

LITERARY ANALYSIS. —41, 42. A calf... trustees. Supply the ellipsis in these lines.

47-56. What two passages in this sentence are familiar quotations? Is it true that the rules of sound rhetoric teach one "nothing but to name his tools?" Do they not also teach how to handle these tools?

59. dialect. What is the grammatical construction of "dialect?"

It was a parti-colored dress.

Of patched and piebald* languages;
'Twas English cut on Greek and Latin,
Like fustian* heretofore on satin.
It had an odd promiscuous tone,

As if h' had talked three parts in one;
Which made some think when he did gabble
H' had heard three laborers of Babel,
Or Cerberus himself pronounce

A leash of languages at once.
This he as volubly would vent
As if his stock would ne'er be spent ;
And truly to support that charge,
He had supplies as vast and large;

61. parti-colored, colored part by part, having various tints and colors.

62. piebald, diversified in color.

fustian (a coarse twilled cotton stuff), that the satin in a garment might appear through it.

63. English... Latin. The leading 66. three parts. The expression al

men of those times were fond

of appearing learned, and com-
monly mixed Latin and even 69.
Greek terms and phrases with

ludes to the old musical catches in three parts.

Cerberus, the three-headed dog at the entrance to Hades.

their speech. This was es- 70. leash, literally a rope. In the

pecially the case with the coun-
try justices, of whom Hudibras

was one.

64. Like fustian . . . satin: that is, like the fashion which formerly ("heretofore") prevailed of

technical language of hunting, it signifies three greyhounds, or three creatures of any kind, the hounds in hunting having been in former times held with a rope or string.

pinking or cutting holes in 73. charge, burden, duty.

LITERARY ANALYSIS.-61. It was... dress.

(See Def. 20.)

What is the figure of speech?

63, 64. Observe how the specific illustrations in these lines carry out the general idea in lines 61 and 62.

64. Like fustian, etc. Explain the comparison.

69. What apposite classical reference is made in this line?

65

70

For he could coin or counterfeit
New words, with little or no wit-
Words so debased and hard, no stone
Was hard enough to touch them on;

And when with hasty noise he spoke 'em,
The ignorant for current took 'em,
That had the orator who once

Did fill his mouth with pebble-stones
When he harangued but known his phrase,
He would have used no other ways.
In mathematics he was greater
Than Tycho Brahe or Erra Pater;
For he, by geometric scale,
Could take the size of pots of ale;
Resolve by sines and tangents, straight,
If bread or butter wanted weight;
And wisely tell what hour o' th' day
The clock does strike, by algebra.

81, 82. the orator... pebble-stones. The 86. Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), an emi

allusion is to Demosthenes, who,
to remedy a defect in his articu-
lation, put pebble-stones in his
mouth while practising in speak-
ing.

77, 78, 80. no stone... touch them on... 88.

current. The meaning is that

there was no touchstone (a stone

By

nent Danish astronomer.
Erra Pater (the name of an old
astrologer) is meant William
Lilly, also an astrologer and a
contemporary of Butler's.

Could . . . ale. As a justice of the

...

peace he had a right to inspect weights and measures.

on which gold and silver were 89. sines and tangents, terms of trigotested) fit to test these "new

nometry.

LITERARY ANALYSIS. 75-80. For he could coin... took 'em. Show the felicitous manner in which the metaphor in this passage is carried out.

85-92. In mathematics... algebra. By what device does the author contrive to convey an exceedingly ludicrous idea of Hudibras's mathematical attainments?