Hudibrastic is a type of English verse named for Samuel Butler's Hudibras, published in parts from 1663 to 1678. For the poem, Butler invented a mock-heroic verse structure.

Description

Instead of pentameter, the lines were written in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is the same as in heroic verse (AA BB CC DD), but Butler used frequent feminine rhyme for humor.

Example

The first fourteen lines of Hudibras illustrate the verse form:

Further description

The rhyme of "swear for" with "wherefore" and "ecclesiastic" with "(in)stead of a stick" are surprising, unnatural, and humorous. Additionally, the rhyme of "-don dwelling" with "a colonelling" is strained to the point of breaking, again for humorous effect. Further, the rhyme scheme in a Hudibrastic will imply inappropriate comparisons. For example, the rhyme of "drunk" and "punk" (meaning "a prostitute") implies that the religious ecstasies of the Puritans were the same as that of sexual intercourse and inebriation. The hudibrastic has been traditionally used for satire. Jonathan Swift, for example, wrote nearly all of his poetry in hudibrastics.

Other usage

In 18th century usage, 'hudibrastic' could also be used grandiloquently to indicate any general satire, as in its use for The Caricature Magazine or Hudibrastic Mirror published by Thomas Tegg between 1807 and 1819.