Literature Network » Samuel Butler

Hudibrastic verse

Content courtesy of

From: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
Date: 20040101
Author:CHRISTOPHER BALDICK

Hudibrastic verse (or Hudibrastics ) [hew‐di‐ bras ‐tik], a kind of comic verse written in octosyllabic couplets with many ridiculously forced feminine rhymes . It is named after the long mock‐heroic poem Hudibras (1663–78), a satire on Puritanism by the English poet Samuel Butler. These lines from Canto III give some impression of the style:He would an elegy compose
On maggots squeez'd out of his nose;
In lyric numbers write an ode on
His mistress, eating a black‐pudden;
And, when imprison'd air escap'd her,
It puft him with poetic rapture.
...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Samuel Butler

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.