Talk:Hudibrastic

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Interesting. This appears to be the verse form used for Burns' humorous narrative poem, Tam o' Shanter -- same metre same feminine rhyming. -- Derek Ross | Talk 9 July 2005 16:17 (UTC)

Indeed! Tam o' Shanter has a lot in common. For example, its great aim is the spying of a lass, here inflated to the Epic quest, and then the fearful retreat embattled by witches that aren't there. It is exactly the same kind of comic deflation and parody, and Burns knew what he was about. (He also had his share of contempt for 'Tha Uncou Good,' of whom Tam may be a member but who talked of witches and such far too much. That these same folks were the Puritans that Butler satirized is also probably germane.) I hadn't thought of that Burns observation before, but it's spot on, and Burns, let's remember, is an 18th century poet. Geogre 02:49, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

I wouldn't have thought that feminine endings were essential to Hudibrastics (the first two lines of Hudibras itself are an exception). The form has also been used by Marvell, Clough and Belloc (and many others), although I don't know whether they consciously wrote "Hudibrastics" or just rhymed octasyllabic couplets. Agingjb (talk) 09:20, 12 October 2009 (UTC)