Page:Hudibras - Volume 1 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/55

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CANTO I.]
HUDIBRAS.
5

Mighty he was at both of these, 25
And styled of War as well as Peace.
So some rats of amphibious nature,
Are either for the land or water.
But here our authors make a doubt.
Whether he were more wise, or stout.[1] 30
Some hold the one, and some the other;
But howsoe'er they make a pother,
The diff'rence was so small, his brain
Outweigh'd his rage but half a grain;
Which made some take him for a tool 35
That knaves do work with, call'd a Fool.
For t' has been held by many, that
As Montaigne, playing with his cat,


Complains she thought him but an ass,[2]
Much more she would Sir Hudibras: 40
For that's the name our valiant knight
To all his challenges did write.
But they're mistaken very much,
'Tis plain enough he was no such;
We grant, although he had much wit, 45
H' was very shy of using it;

  1. A burlesque on the usual strain of rhetorical flattery, when authors pretend to be puzzled which of their patrons' noble qualities they should give the preference to.
  2. See this playful passage (quoted from Montaigne, Essays ii. 12) in Walton's Angler, chap. i.