Then, Hudibras, why should'st thou fear
To be, that art a conqueror?
Fortune the audacious doth juvare,[1]395
But lets the timidous[2] miscarry:
Then, while the honour thou hast got
Is spick and span new, piping hot,[3]
Strike her up bravely thou hadst best,
And trust thy fortune with the rest.400
Such thoughts as these the Knight did keep
More than his bangs, or fleas, from sleep;
And as an owl, that in a barn
Sees a mouse creeping in the corn,
Sits still, and shuts his round blue eyes,405
As if he slept, until he spies
The little beast within his reach,
Then starts, and seizes on the wretch;
So from his couch the Knight did start,
To seize upon the widow's heart;410
Crying, with hasty tone and hoarse,
Ralpho, dispatch, to horse, to horse!
And 'twas but time; for now the rout,
We left engag'd to seek him out,
By speedy marches were advanc'd415
Up to the fort where he ensconc'd,
And all the avenues possest
About the place, from east to west.
That done, awhile they made a halt,
To view the ground, and where t' assault:420
Then call'd a council, which was best,
By siege, or onslaught, to invest
The enemy; and 'twas agreed
By storm and onslaught to proceed.
This b'ing resolv'd, in comely sort425
They now drew up t' attack the fort;
- ↑ Alluding to the familiar quotation, Fortes Fortuna adjuvat, "Fortune favours the bold,"
- ↑ Timidous, from timidus; the hero being in a latinizing humour.
- ↑ Spick and span is derived by Dr Grey from spike, which signifies a nail of iron, as well as a nail in measure, and span, which is a measure of nine inches, or quarter of a yard. This applied to a new suit means that it has just been measured by the nail and span. Ray gives a different derivation; see Bohn's Handbook of Proverbs, page 178.
