308
HUDIBRAS.
[PART III.
He therefore sent out all his senses
To bring him in intelligences,
Which vulgars, out of ignorance,
Mistake for falling in a trance; 1130
But those that trade in geomancy,[1]
Affirm to be the strength of fancy;
In which the Lapland magi deal,[2]
And things incredible reveal.
Meanwhile the foe beat up his quarters, 1135
And storm'd the outworks of his fortress;
And as another of the same
Degree and party, in arms and fame,
That in the same cause had engag'd
And war with equal conduct wag'd, 1140
By vent'ring only but to thrust
His head a span beyond his post,
B' a gen'ral of the cavaliers
Was dragg'd thro' a window by the ears:[3]
So he was serv'd in his redoubt, 1145
And by the other end pull'd out.
Soon as they had him at their mercy,
They put him to the cudgel fiercely,
As if they scorn'd to trade and barter,
By giving, or by taking quarter: 1150
They stoutly on his quarters laid,
Until his scouts came in t' his aid:
For when a man is past his sense,
There's no way to reduce him thence,
But twingeing him by th' ears or nose, 1155
Or laying on of heavy blows:
To bring him in intelligences,
Which vulgars, out of ignorance,
Mistake for falling in a trance; 1130
But those that trade in geomancy,[1]
Affirm to be the strength of fancy;
In which the Lapland magi deal,[2]
And things incredible reveal.
Meanwhile the foe beat up his quarters, 1135
And storm'd the outworks of his fortress;
And as another of the same
Degree and party, in arms and fame,
That in the same cause had engag'd
And war with equal conduct wag'd, 1140
By vent'ring only but to thrust
His head a span beyond his post,
B' a gen'ral of the cavaliers
Was dragg'd thro' a window by the ears:[3]
So he was serv'd in his redoubt, 1145
And by the other end pull'd out.
Soon as they had him at their mercy,
They put him to the cudgel fiercely,
As if they scorn'd to trade and barter,
By giving, or by taking quarter: 1150
They stoutly on his quarters laid,
Until his scouts came in t' his aid:
For when a man is past his sense,
There's no way to reduce him thence,
But twingeing him by th' ears or nose, 1155
Or laying on of heavy blows:
- ↑ A sort of divination by circles and pricks in the earth; used here for any sort of conjuring. The Knight's trance was a swoon through fear.
- ↑ Lapland, on account of its remaining pagan so long, was celebrated through the rest of Europe as the country of magicians and witches. They are reputed to have obtained the revelations necessary to making their predictions during trances.
- ↑ This circumstance happened to Sir Richard Philips, of Picton Castle, in Pembrokeshire. The Cavaliers, commanded by Colonel Egerton, attacked this place, and demanded a parley. Sir Richard consented; and, being a little man, stepped upon a bench, and showed himself at one of the windows. The colonel, who was high in stature, sat on horseback underneath; and pretending to be deaf, desired the other to come as near
