BUTLER, SAMUEL (senior). - English satirical poet, b. in 1612 at Streusham (Worcester), d. in 1680 at Covent Garden (London) of tuberculosis.
He was secretary to various Presbyterian magistrates, from whom he derived many ideas for shaping the character of the hypocrite Hudibras, protagonist of the eponymous poem in eight-line rhyming couplets (in 3 parts: 1663, anonymous; 1664; 1678). It is the tale of the ridiculous adventures of Sir Hudibras, a pedantic and scholastic Presbyterian judge, and his squire Ralpho, an independent man; adventures which aim to show the absurdity and hypocrisy of Puritanism. The work recalls Don Quixote, but the animating spirit is rather Rabelaisian. The satire is not always kept within its limits, the frequent puns and fanciful phrases, not accompanied by high poetry and narrative skill, succeed more in comic than literary effects. Notable among B.'s works are the witty Characters. A monument to him was erected in Westminster Abbey in 1721.