Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. II. The Seventeenth Century: Ben Jonson to Dryden

Samuel Butler (1612–1680)

Extracts from Hudibras: Martial Music

[From Part I.]

INSTEAD of trumpet and of drum

That makes the warrior’s stomach come,

Whose noise whets valour sharp, like beer

By thunder turned to vinegar;

For if a trumpet sound or drum beat

Who has not a month’s mind to combat?