ABOUT SAMUEL BUTLER

Introduction  of Samuel butler

    Samuel butler was most prominent  figure of  Restoration  age.

 

Biographyof Samuel butler

  Butler was born Samuel Butler (bautizado el 14 February 1613 -  25 September 1680 was a satirist he is remembered now his prominent work  hudibras.

          inage of Samuel butler

Butler  was born in  strensham  worcestershire and was son of farmer  and church warden, also known as Samuel. His date of birth was unknown but as per evidence  date of his baptism of 14 February.  According  to his work hudibras 8 February  said tread well Russell nash. Nash has already mentioned  butler in his   collection  for history of worcestershire.

 

Butler was brought up in the house hold  of sir William  Russell   of strensham  and became his cleark.

 Education of butler

 Butler was  educated  king school worcester under  Henry  bright    whose teaching  is recorded  favorably  by  Thomas fuller.

 Some incidents of butler's  life

During the days of Cromwell  protectorate  he was employ of Samuel  Luke,   a crabbed and  extreme type of  puritan nobel man and here he collected his material  and probably wrote the first part of his barlsque, which of course  he did not dare  until  after the restoration 

Work of Samuel butler 

Hudibras is only one and noteble work of  Samuel butler. 

About hudibras

Hudibras  is an English mock heroic narrative  poem  the 17 century written by Samuel butler publish  in the aftermath  of english civil war, it is scathing  satire of puritan and the parliament  cause of royal perspective

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Structure of hudibras 

 Title was taken from edmund spensar   fariequeen   described as  not so good deeds as great of name and more huge in strength than wise in work Spencer turn probably  got the  name from   legendary king of Britons  rud gud hudibras. 

  The poem was  written in  iambic meter in  close couplets   with surprising  feminine rhymes  when we opens up the poem , where english  civil war  describe thus

When civil fury first grew high,
And men fell out they knew not why,
When hard Words, Jealousies, and Fears,
Set Folks together by the Ears,
And made them fight, like mad or drunk,
For Dame Religion, as for Punk;
Whose honesty they all durst swear for,
Though not a man of them knew wherefore:
When Gospel-Trumpeter surrounded,
With long-ear'd rout, to Battle sounded,
And Pulpit, Drum Ecclesiastick,

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

 

This poem  was  published  in three parts  each divided

 Into canots  with some additional  heroic epistles. It is 

Possible that fourth part was planned  

 Plot of the poem

 In the very first part of poem describe tha knight and his squire Sally forth and come upon some people bear -baiting. After deciding that this is anti Christian they attack tha baiters and capture one after defeating the bear.

  In the second part describes how the knight's imprisoned  condition is reported by  widow hudibras has been wooing.

Third part was publish after  14 year of first two part  it picks up from where the second left  off hudibras  going to widow's  house  to explain details  of the whipping  he had promising him self but Ralph had got there first and told her what actually  has happened.

     

Significant of the poem

    

Hudibras was an extremely popular work with pirate copies and a spurious second part being issued before Butler could produce his genuine second part in 1664. It was highly praised with Voltaire in his Letters on the English saying "I never found so much wit in one single book". One reader though was distinctly unimpressed. On 26 December 1662 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that he bought Hudibras, but, despite its being extremely popular at the time, he admitted finding no humour in it and selling it the same day. Two months later he bought it again to try to find what he was missing. He still found nothing funny about it, due to his finding its treatment of Puritans too vicious and being insensitive to the humour of the rhymes.

         In his poem, Butler coined the phrase "Spare the rod and spoil the child," probably a modification of bilibcleinjunction about child-rearing given in book of proverb: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes" 

. In the context of Hudibras the phrase is a bawdy metaphor suggesting the best way to curtail amorous passions or, through double entendre, to prevent conception:

If Matrimony and Hanging go
By Dest'ny, why not Whipping too?
What med'cine else can cure the fits
Of Lovers when they lose their Wits?
Love is a Boy by Poets stil'd,
Then Spare the Rod, and spill