CANTO III.]
HUDIBRAS.
407
Quoth Hudibras, I understand
What fights thou mean'st at sea and land,
And who those were that run away,
And yet gave out they 'd won the day: 310
Altho' the rabble sous'd them for 't,
O'er head and ears, in mud and dirt.
'Tis true our modern way of war
Is grown more politic by far,[1]
But not so resolute and bold, 315
Nor tied to honour, as the old.
For now they laugh at giving battle,
Unless it be to herds of cattle;
Or fighting convoys of provision,
The whole design o' th' expedition, 320
And not with downright blows to rout
The enemy, but eat them out:
As fighting, in all beasts of prey,
And eating, are perform'd one way,
To give defiance to their teeth, 325
And fight their stubborn guts[2] to death;
What fights thou mean'st at sea and land,
And who those were that run away,
And yet gave out they 'd won the day: 310
Altho' the rabble sous'd them for 't,
O'er head and ears, in mud and dirt.
'Tis true our modern way of war
Is grown more politic by far,[1]
But not so resolute and bold, 315
Nor tied to honour, as the old.
For now they laugh at giving battle,
Unless it be to herds of cattle;
Or fighting convoys of provision,
The whole design o' th' expedition, 320
And not with downright blows to rout
The enemy, but eat them out:
As fighting, in all beasts of prey,
And eating, are perform'd one way,
To give defiance to their teeth, 325
And fight their stubborn guts[2] to death;
- ↑ Butler's unpublished Common-place Book has the following lines on "The modern way of war."For fighting now is out of mode,
And stratagem's the only road;
Unless in th' out-of-fashion wars,
Of barb'rous Turks and Polanders.
All feats of arms are now reduc'd
To chousing, or to being chous'd;
They fight not now to overthrow,
But gull, or circumvent a foe.
And watch all small advantages
As if they fought a game at chess;.
And he's approv'd the most deserving
Who longest can hold out at starving.
Who makes best fricasees of cats,
Of frogs and ———, and mice and rats;
Pottage of vermin, and ragoos
Of trunks and boxes, and old shoes.
And those who, like th' immortal gods,
Do never eat, have still the odds. - ↑ Later editions read, the others' stomachs.
was neglected after the battle of Roundway-down, called by the wits Runaway-down.
