Analysis of Puritans - (from Hudibras)
Samuel Butler 1613 (Strensham) – 1680 (London)
Our brethren of New England use
Choice malefactors to excuse,
And hang the guiltless in their stead,
Of whom the churches have less need;
As late it happened in a town
Where lived a cobbler, and but one,
That out of doctrine could cut use,
And mend men's lives as well as shoes.
This precious brother having slain
In times of peace an Indian,
Not out of malice, but mere zeal,
Because he was an infidel;
The mighty Tottipotimoy
Complaining loudly of the breach
Of league held forth by brother Patch,
Against the articles in force
Between both churches, his and ours;
For which he craved the saints to render
Into his hands, or hang the offender.
But they maturely having weighed
They had no more but him of the trade,
A man that served them in the double
Capacity to spare him; yet to do
The Indian Hogan Mogan too
Impartial justice, in his stead did
Hang an old weaver that was bedrid.
Scheme | AABCDEAFGEHIJKLMNOOPPQRRSB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101011101 1100101 01010011 11010111 11110001 11010011 11110111 01111111 11010101 01111100 11110111 0111110 0101 01010101 11111101 01010001 011101010 111101110 0111110010 111101 111111101 011110010 0100111111 01001101 010100111 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 874 |
Words | 166 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 26 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 702 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 164 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 79 Views
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"Puritans - (from Hudibras)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34092/puritans---%28from-hudibras%29>.
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