Page:Hudibras - Volume 1 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/218

PART II.CANTO I.

ARGUMENT.

The Knight being clapp'd by th' heels in prison,
The last unhappy expedition,^[1]
Love brings his action on the case,^[2]
And lays it upon Hudibras.
How he receives^[3] the lady's visit,
And cunningly solicits his suit,
Which she defers: yet, on parole,
Redeems him from th' enchanted hole.

1. In the editions previous to 1674, the lines stand thus:
   The knight, by damnable magician,
   Being cast illegally in prison.
2. An action on the case, is an action for redress of wrongs and injuries, done without force, and not specially provided against by law.
3. The first editions read revi's. To revie means to cover a sum put down upon a hand at cards with a larger sum; also to retort or recriminate. See Wright's Provincial Dictionary.