Hudibras Samuel Butler (free novels to read TXT) đ
- Author: Samuel Butler
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Can fit you with what heirs we please;
And force you tâ own âem, though begotten
By French valets, or Irish footmen.
Nor can the rigoroursest course
Prevail, unless to make us worse;
Who still, the harsher we are usâd,
Are further off from bâing reducâd,
And scorn tâ abate, for any ills,
The least punctilios of our wills.
Force does but whet our wits tâ apply
Arts, born with us for remedy;
Which all your politics, as yet,
Have neâer been able to defeat:
For when yâ have tryâd all sorts of ways,
What fools dâ we make of you in plays!
While all the favours we afford,
Are but to girt you with the sword,
To fight our battles in our steads,
And have your brains beat out oâ your heads;
Encounter, in despite of nature,
And fight at once with fire and water,
With pirates, rocks, and storms, and seas,
Our pride and vanity tâ appease;
Kill one another, and cut throats,
For our good graces, and best thoughts;
To do your exercise for honour,
And have your brains beat out the sooner;
Or crackâd, as learnedly, upon
Things that are never to be known;
And still appear the more industrious,
The more your projects are prepostârous;
To square the circle of the arts,
And run stark mad to shew your parts;
Expound the oracle of laws,
And turn them which way we see cause;
Be our solicitors and agents,
And stand for us in all engagements.
And these are all the mighty powârs
You vainly boast to cry down ours,
And what in real valueâs wanting,
Supply with vapouring and ranting;
Because yourselves are terrifyâd,
And stoop to one anotherâs pride,
Believe we have as little wit
To be out-hectorâd, and submit;
By your example, lose that right
In treaties which we gainâd in fight;
And, terrifyâd into an awe,
Pass on ourselves a Salique law:221
Or, as some nations use, give place,
And truckle to your mighty race;
Let men usurp thâ unjust dominion,
As if they were the better women.
Adultery.
AnimaliaAnimals.
Arsie-versieUpside-down.
AruspicyProphesying, fortune-telling.
BachrachWine from Bacharach, in Germany.
BavinA bundle of firewood.
BoutefeuArsonist or (literal or metaphorical) firebrand.
CacodaemonAn evil Spirit.
CaldesâdCheated.
CalendaeThe 1st or 2nd of the month.
CallecheA carriage with two wheels and a folding hood.
CamelionA giraffe.
CamisadoAn attack by night, during which the attackers wore shirts over their armour so they could recognise one another.
Cane et angue pejusWorse than a dog or a snake.
CaperdewsieThe stocks.
CapochâdPulled off the hoods.
CaprichA caprice.
CarbonadingThrashing, beating.
CarrochA stately or luxurious carriage.
CatastaThe stocks.
CawdleSoup or gruel.
CeruseWhite lead used as a cosmetic.
ChampaignChampagne wine.
Chousâd, choust, chowsâdCheated.
ChouseA cheatâs victim.
ClassisThe elders and pastors of all the Presbyterian congregations in a district.
CoincidereTo come together.
CongeesBows, curtseys.
ConsterConstrue, explain.
ConventicleSecret or illegal religious meetings.
CovinsConspiracies.
Cucking-stoolA stool to which a malefactor (often an unfaithful wife) was tied, to be exposed to public ridicule, or ducked in a pond or river.
CurshipThe title of being a curâ âpun on âworship.â
CuruleAn ivory chair used as a mayorâs throne.
DeletoryThat which wipes out or destroys.
DeodandIn English law an article which had caused a manâs death was ordered by the court to be a forfeited as a deodand (Ad Deodandumâ âto be given to God). Before the reformation it or its value was given to the Church; afterwards to the local landowner.
DewtryA stupefying drink made from the Indian thorn-apple fruit.
DialecticoA philosophical point of argument.
Dictum factumNo sooner said than done.
DisparoTo separate.
DonzelA young page or squire.
DrazelA slut.
DucatoonAn Italian silver coin, worth about 6 shillings.
Ejusdem generisOf the same kind.
EnucleateTo explain the meaning of.
Ex parteOn behalf of.
ExauntA religious establishment not under the authority of the local bishop.
FadgingFitting.
Feme-covertA woman under the protection of a husband (a legal term)
FerkBeat, whip.
Festina lenteMake haste slowly.
Fingle-fangleA whimsical or fantastic idea.
FotherA cartload.
FulhamsLoaded dice.
GanzasThe birds which the hero of a popular romance harnessed to take him to the moon.
GenethliackA caster of horoscopes.
GeomancyDivination by interpreting the patterns of lines drawn at random on the ground or on paper.
GleaveA spear or halberd.
GranadoA grenade.
GrillyâdGrilled.
GrincamSyphilis.
GuepGo on!â âsaid to a horse or as an expression of derision.
HabergeonA chain-mail shirt.
Haut-goutsTasty things.
HeadboroughA constable.
Hiccius DoctiusA nonsense word used by jugglers, conjurers etc., hence, any kind of trick or dishonest dealing.
HightCalled, named.
HoccamoreWine from Hochheim, in Germany.
HoraryHourly.
HuckleThe hip.
HuguenotsFrench Calvinists.
HypocondriesThe upper abdomen, between the breastbone and the navel.
Id estThat is.
IdemThe same.
IllationInference, deduction.
In eodem subjectoThrown together in the same place.
In querpoNaked.
Jobbernol(e)A thick head or blockhead.
Jure divinoBy Godâs law.
LanguedHeraldic term meaning, with a tongue of a particular colour e.g. langued gulesâ âwith a red tongue.
LathyThin, like a lath.
Linsey-woolseyA cloth of mixed wool and linen threads.
LinstockA stick for holding a gunnerâs match.
LâOmbreA card game.
LongeesLunges.
LustrationsCeremonials of ritual purification by washing.
MainprizeTo stand surety for someone.
ManiconA plant (deadly nightshade) or its extract, believed
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