Analysis of Religion Of Hudibras, The
Samuel Butler 1613 (Strensham) – 1680 (London)
For his religion it was fit
To match his learning and his wit:
'Twas Presbyterian true blue;
For he was of that stubborn crew
Of errant saints, whom all men grant
To be the true church militant;
Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun;
Decide all controversies by
Infallible artillery;
And prove their doctrine orthodox,
By apostolic blows and knocks;
Call fire, and sword, and desolation,
A godly, thorough reformation,
Which always must be carried on,
And still be doing, never done;
As if religion were intended
For nothing else but to be mended:
A sect whose chief devotion lies
In odd perverse antipathies;
In falling out with that or this,
And finding somewhat still amiss;
More peevish, cross, and splenetic,
Than dog distract, or monkey sick;
That with more care keep holy-day
The wrong, than others the right way,
Compound for sins they are inclin'd to,
By damning those they have no mind to:
Still so perverse and opposite,
As if they worshipped God for spite:
The self-same thing they will abhor
One way, and long another for:
Free-will they one way disavow,
Another, nothing else allow:
All piety consists therein
In them, in other men all sin:
Rather than fail, they will defy
That which they love most tenderly;
Quarrel with minc'd pies and disparage
Their best and dearest friend, plum porridge,
Fat pig and goose itself oppose,
And blaspheme custard through the nose.
Scheme | AABBCDEFGHIIFFEFJKLMNNOOPPBBQRSSTTUUGHVWXX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111 11110011 1010011 11111101 11011111 11011100 11111101 01011101 111001 01000100 0111010 11101 110010010 01010010 1111101 01110101 110100010 110111110 01110101 01010100 01011111 01011101 110101 11011101 11111101 01110011 101111011 110111111 11010100 11110111 01111101 11010101 1111101 01010101 11000101 01010111 10111101 11111100 101110010 110101110 11010101 0110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,367 |
Words | 244 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 42 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 243 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 15 Views
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"Religion Of Hudibras, The" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56596/religion-of-hudibras%2C-the>.
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