NOTES TO THE POEMS
was an effective satire on the Puritans in the style of
Don Quixote. By its mock-heroic effects, it is com-
parable, though at a distance, with " The Rape of
the Lock," and by its satire with "Absalom and
Achitophel."
P. 157, 1. i. Dudgeon : anger, a quarrel; here, the Civil
War, 1642-6.
11. 5-6. Gospel trumpeter, long-ear}d rout: the Puritans.
Rout: company.
11. 15-16. Blow . . . shoulder-blade: the accolade; the
light blow or touch on the shoulder with the flat of a
drawn sword, with which the king or queen confers
a knighthood. The knight was addressed as *e Right
worshipful."
1. 17. Errant: wandering.
1. 18. Cartel: a challenge.
Warrant: a document conferring certain powers, e.g.
that of arresting a suspected person.
1. 19. On the bench : as a magistrate, in the Courts.
1. 20. Bind o'er: a legal term, meaning " to make an
accused person promise to keep the peace, or to appear
in the court on another day."
Swaddle: to wrap in bandages, as was formerly done
with new-born children.
1. 22. Sty I'd of war . . . peace: a soldier and a Justice of
the Peace.
1. 23. Amphibious : able to live either on land or in
water.
1. 28. Pother: fuss, turmoil.
1. 30. Grain : a very small unit of weight.
P. 158, 1. 2. Montaigne : a great French writer of the
sixteenth century. His Essays, the first of their kind,
are notable for their tolerant and practical wisdom.
1. 16. Trope : a figure of speech.
1. 23. Rhetorician : orator.
The Character of Shaftesbury.
John Dryden (1631-1700). In an age when authors of
no independent means depended largely on the
patronage of the Court, Dryden was put to many
political shifts to maintain his position. He began by
writing verses in praise of Cromwell. With the
Restoration (1660) he turned to drama, a taste for
which Charles II had acquired during his exile in
France. He wrote " heroic plays/' and blank verse