A tale of a tub- Jonathan Swift

A TALE OF A TUB

This blog is a response to the blog task given to us by Vaidehi Haryani ma’am as a classwork. In this blog I am going to explain the symbols used in the prose/ tragedy/ satire/ parody or an allegory ‘ The Tale of a Tub.’

Writer:

'A Tale of a Tub' is written by Johnathan swift. He belonged to the 18th century and was an Anglo- Irish satirist, poet and priest. He was known as a master of satire. Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry.

Brief Intro:

A tale of a tub was published in 1704, it has too many metaphors and so it becomes one of the masterly works of Swift. A Tale of a Tub might be written for the Universal Improvement of Mankind.

It was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, arguably his most difficult satire and perhaps his most masterly. Through this tale he is trying to point out the flaws in the all three branches of the Christian religion. This Tale’s primary focus is religion. It is a prose Parody (an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect). The tale consists of 'A preface', '11 sections' and 'a Conclusion'.

Plot in brief:

The main plot of A Tale of a Tub concerns three sons who inherit coats from their father with a command never to alter them. In youth, the brothers are committed to obeying their father's dying wish, but fashions change and they begin to feel left behind by polite society. They begin scrutinizing their father's will to see if there can be any justification for altering the coats after all. By twisting his words, they manage to rationalize the addition of decorative knots, then of gold lace, and eventually of numerous other decorations. Each time, they depart further and further from the obvious intent of their father's will, until eventually they are not even pretending to consult it. 

As stated before the ale uses a lot of metaphors. Here father, coats, will, brothers all these are used as a symbol to satire the religious practices of that time. And in this blog I am going to elaborate some of the metaphors used in the tale.

Symbols/ metaphors in the prose are:

Father	God
Three brothers	Three branches of Christainity
Will of the father	Bible
Coats	The religious practices
Tub	Digression
Whale	The one who attacks

Tub and Whale:

The tub- The word tub in the title refers to that sailors used to toss out to distract whales from tipping their ship. Here the ship represents the status of the English government and their religious structure and the whale refers to new ideas and controversies. Generally, when the sailors go for a voyage, it used to happen that whales attack them in the ocean and to safeguard themselves and to distract the whale sailors used to throw tubs in the water so that the whale moves to that direction and the ship remains safe. 

We can interpret this symbol in a way that the authorities always tosses a new topic or throws something in the air or brings out useless news so that the society gets distracted from the real news, the major news which can become a solid question of the working of the authorities. Here the whale symbolism to the public, the society and the tub tossed to district them is fake news. In this situation the Whale can be interpreted as the question raised by the society to the authorities for welfare. We can take a recent example, when the covid- 19 was spreading all around and numbers of cases were emerging in India. Our media was trying to distract people with the news of Sushant Singh Rajput's death making it a controversy of murder or death. This is my interpretation. The questions by people of the nation about the steps taken by authorities to safeguard them from the Covid- 19 virus works as a whale symbol which was ignored and everyone was driven towards a tub.

In the satire the Digression talks on various topics like critics, modernity, madness, readers, soul as well as the literary intentions. The digression is used to distract readers from understanding that the tale talks and criticizes the supreme authorities. So here we clarify the simple word like tub shows us very deep meaning like distraction and symbiosis to the digression used in the prose satire.

Will of the Father:

Will of the father is a symbol of the Bible in this tale. As we saw in the summary this tale is a satire to Christian religious practices. According to the tale the father wrote a will and gave 3 coats to his 3 sons. The will stated that no one among the three brothers can make any changes in the coats; it will bring misfortunes to them.

“Sons, because I have purchased no estate, nor was born to any, I have long considered of some good legacies to bequeath you, and at last, with much care as well as expense, have provided each of you (here they are) a new coat.  Now, you are to understand that these coats have two virtues contained in them; one is, that with good wearing they will last you fresh and sound as long as you live; the other is, that they will grow in the same proportion with your bodies, lengthening and widening of themselves, so as to be always fit.  Here, let me see them on you before I die.  So, very well!  Pray, children, wear them clean and brush them often.  You will find in my will (here it is) full instructions in every particular concerning the wearing and management of your coats, wherein you must be very exact to avoid the penalties I have appointed for every transgression or neglect, upon which your future fortunes will entirely depend.  I have also commanded in my will that you should live together in one house like brethren and friends, for then you will be sure to thrive and not otherwise.”

All three brothers very faithfully followed the will but with time the fashion kept on changing they started getting corrupted from the surrounding influences and started to desire to look better and smart in the coats. Due to their desire they got driven towards making changes in the coats and slowly and steadily they started facing problems in their life. The Misfortunes attacked them. Will told them to stay together as brothers but time imbalance among them separated them.

Here simplifying the will and making changes in them brought misfortunes to brothers. Same way symbolizing the Bible, simplifying the bible and making its rules and regulations comfortable for living divided the Christian society into three divisions, which made them lose their brotherhood. They started fighting among them and this brought misfortune to whole Christian religion.

Coats & Three brother:

The coats are the main and central symbol in this tale. The coats were the only inheritance to three brothers from their father with some rules given to them. In the beginning they stuck to the rules very precisely. But with time with their understanding and facility they simplified the will made changes, alteration in the coats. Soon conflict began in their life. The eldest brother realized that he is right and has not done any harm to the coat as he was earning good in life. Younger two brothers realized their mistake and decided to change the coats by altering how they were looking before. Martin very precisely and safely removed the altering and the things which couldn't be removed without damaging the coat was left as it is. While Jack removed all the altering roughly and damaged the coat.

Here the coats symbolized three different Christian tradition. Peter, who represents Catholicism, sticks to those extravagances and even multiplies them; he deliberately avoids consulting the will to see whether he is going astray. Martin represents Anglican church so his coat represents practices of Anglican church. He did not damage the coat and left it with some changes, which signifies that he changed the rule of the Bible for comfort of the society. While Jack the youngest one symbolized protestant. He damaged his coat in removing altering that signifies that all the rules and regulations of the bible are completely destroyed in the practices of the protestant. And the hate of Jack towards Peter also symbolizes the protest of protestants against Catholic church followers. 

Here I have explained two topics together in two points as they are interlinked with each other. I hope you were able to understand the point easily in this blog. I have also hyperlinked the blog of our faculty  for your better understanding. I am also embedding a summary video from the YouTube so that you can easily catch up with symbols given.

Thank you for visiting. I have purely written my understanding in the elaboration of symbols. If any queries or changes please drop a comment.

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Lyrical Ballads

 Romantic Poetry- Lyrical Ballads

This blog is in response to the blog task based on the romantic poems given by Yesha ma'am. In this blog task I am going to present my views on lyrical Ballads. I have also attached my presentation to it.

In brief about Romantic period:

The period of romantic age was 1788 to 1837. This age started with the publication of lyrical Ballads. Writers of this age made an experiment to write romance for nature in their poetry.

Romanticism, It was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. Romantic age started with the poet's S.T. Coleridge, William Wordsworth and William Blake and in its second generations Keats, Shelley and Byron were notable poets. It can be interpreted as the reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.

This age is known as the second creative age of English literature.

Characteristics of romanticism:

• An emphasis on individualism and subjectivity.
• An emphasis on beauty and purity of nature.
• Focuses on emotions and feelings.
• Belief in the natural goodness of man.
• Belief that imagination is superior to reason.
• Love for the supernatural.

This age is also known as the age of revolution as the three revolutions, Anglo Saxon period of freedom, American Commonwealth and French Revolution were going on altogether.

Edward Hirsch wrote in his treatise on how to read a poem-

“True poetic practice implies a mind so miraculously attuned and illuminated that it can form words, by a chain of more-than coincidences, into a living entity,”

Lyrical Ballads:

Ballads is a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next.

Ballads derive from the medieval French chanson balladée or ballade, which were originally "dance songs".Ballads are often 13 lines with an ABAB BCBC form, consisting of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. Another common form is ABAB or ABCB repeated, in alternating eight and six syllable lines. Literary or lyrical ballads grew out of an increasing interest in the ballad form among social elites and intellectuals, particularly in the Romantic Movement from the later 18th century.

Lyrical ballads were published in four different editions. Lyrical Ballads was the collaborative work of S.T. Coleridge.

Edition 1:

Its first edition was published anonymously. It consisted of 23 poems, 19 written by William Wordsworth and 4 written by Samuel Coleridge. Wordsworth in his poems gave emphasis on 'nature' While Coleridge emphasized on 'Supernatural elements'. In the same edition, Wordsworth presented Advertisement, which stated that the poems written are in the form of experiment. And also declared that the conversational language can be used greatly for the purpose of poetic creation.

To read original lyrical ballads and the advertisement.

Edition 2:

The second edition of the lyrical Ballads came with the Preface. The preface covered the points like what is poetry? Characteristics of poets and The value of Poem. 

It gave a definition of the poem- 'Spontaneous Overflow of powerful feeling, recollected in tranquility.’ Along with this preface also included other eight points which are described in the presentation below.

Edition 3:

Edition three, it expanded the preface and added poetic diction. ‘Poetic diction is used to denote linguistic style, the vocabulary and technique used in writing poems.’ Edition four is expandation of the previous edition. We don't find anything extraordinary in this edition.

'William Wordsworth believed that every poet has the Social responsibility of strengthening and promoting human culture through his poetry.'

William Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridge worked together in Lyrical Ballads, still Coleridge has criticised Wordsworth point of Poetic diction in his critical work ‘Biographia Literaria'. This point is described in my presentation.

Lyrical ballad from Jheel Barad

Thanks for visiting. For any queries or needed changes please drop a comment. I hope it was useful for you.

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Metaphysical poets

Metaphysical Poetry

This blog is in response to the classwork on the unit of Metaphysical poets covered under Dr. Dilip Barad sir. We learnt this unit in a unique way that is flipped learning.

Flipped learning is a new learning approach in which the learners are instructed in their work and they complete their learning in their own individual learning space. In the same way we were also instructed in our google classroom to attend the video lectures of Dr. R.K. Mandaliya Sir which recorded in and online mode last year and were published as a playlist of 6 videos in Dilip Barad sir’s YouTube channel. Along with , we were instructed to write a blog on it and to get a handwritten answer dictated by Mandaliya sir. It was my first flipped learning experience. In flip learning we get a chance of learning in our comfortable zone. As the lectures were previously recorded it became easier to learn. We can pause, re-listen, and understand along with a personal and comfortable place. It was a new and great experience.

Metaphysical poetry- It is a group of poems that share a common characteristic; They are highly intellectualized, use rather strange imagery, use frequent paradoxes and contain extremely complicated thought.

The word metaphysical in a combination of two words. i.e., meta + physical. The prefix 'meta' means ‘after’ and the whole phrase metaphysical means ‘after physical.’

John Donne is a Pioneer of Metaphysical Poetry and the followers of Donne are known as his school. George Herbert, Andrew Marvel and Richard Crashaw are the members of this school. Henry Vaughan, Thomas Treharne and Abraham Cowley are also important metaphysical poets. Their work has considerably influenced the poetry of the 20th century.

The term metaphysical poetry was coined by Samuel Johnson in his biographical work with the title ‘Lives of the most Eminent English Poets’ (1779-81) while writing the biography of Abraham Cowley. Dr. Johnson passed a remarkable comment that, ‘The poetry of the Metaphysical poets stood a trial of their finger but failed in the trail of the ears.’ In the biography Johnson wrote About metaphysical poems and poets in a derogatory sense but with passing of time the same term became the term of appraisal.

Metaphysical poetry emerged in the latter half of the 16th century. It was a conscious attempt by this group of poets to differ from the writing style of predecessors and an attempt for a unique identity. It was not that Metaphysical poets wrote poetry on new, different or complex topics. They wrote poems of the Same topics like religion and love but to bring a uniqueness in their work they used complex metaphors. Predecessors used the images or metaphors from the fields which were related to poetry while metaphysical poets made an attempt to use completely odd metaphors or images, they used far-fetched metaphors which had no direct connection with the field of the poem. They were also from different fields of education like biology, architecture, mechanical engineering, math etc. 

For example, while writing a love poem the previous poets used the metaphor like rose, honey bee etc. In its place metaphysical poet; John Donne used the flea (an insect) as a metaphor in his love poem.

They made an attempt to write differently from their predecessors because if they would have written in the same form and style people might get fed-up of reading the same type of poetry and no one will mark their contribution in English literature.

“No tradition remains for long time” 

-Mathew Arnold

Also, the standard of education, intellectuality, and literacy increased in the Elizabethan age so the poets tried to be intellectual in the writing of their poetry. Critic Helen C. White mentions-

“It was a demand of time for the metaphysical poets to differ from the poets of previous age. Had they continued writing poetry in the same manner, just like the former poets they would have been rejected by the readers.”

General characteristics of metaphysical poetry-

• The Metaphysical poets try to find a connection between the abstract and the concrete, the remote and the near in describing his experience of emotional reality.
• Metaphysical poetry is spiritual & has often religious themes. Moreover, it focuses on love, as the union of souls.
• The most important characteristic of metaphysical poetry is “undissociated sensibility” - the combination of feeling and thoughts.
• Metaphysical poetry displays a fine interspersing of emotions, sensibilities, memories and reasons.
• The metaphysical poets introduced the concept of conceits - A conceit is the bringing together of very unlikely ideas to produce a new idea.
• Metaphysical poets create wild conceits. The poets steal all fields of knowledge, science as well as nature for comparisons. They try to yoke contradictory things together. They link two different areas of experience.
• The Metaphysical poets combine dissimilar ideas without attempting to unite them. The real obstacle in understanding metaphysical poetry is its novelty. They use private symbolism, which the reader finds difficult to understand.
• They used informal language to bring about dramatic realism.
• Metaphysical poets were the men of learning and they wanted to show it through their poetry. 
• Dr. Johnson says- “ no man could be born a metaphysical poet.”
• Using wit has been a prominent feature of Metaphysical poets. In the context of Metaphysical Poetry, the excessive use of intellectual ideas is referred to as wit.
• These poems usually start off from certain events or actions. E.g.; Mark but this flea, and mark in this…. The Flea by John Donne.
• The language used in metaphysical poetry is simple and easy to understand, lacking elevated and ornate speech, which is found in classical writings.
• Metaphysical poetry is considered to be brief & concise. Every line conveys a lot of meanings in a few words.
• Platonic love is one of the prominent features of metaphysical poetry. Platonic love - means spiritual love, which is free from elements of physical love.

Here I am talking briefly about a few metaphysical poems.

You can read original poems by clicking on title.

1. Holy Sonnet X

Holy Sonnet X is written by John Donne, Holy sonnets are famous by its first line and it is well-known with title ‘Death be not Proud.’ ‘Holy sonnets are the sonnets which specifically refers to something related to spirituality, god almighty, sins and repentance.’ This sonnet is addressed to death. The aim of the poet behind writing this sonnet is to nullify the fear of death. The poet says that death is a slave of fate, chance, kings and desperate men and it dwells in poison, sickness and war.

If the poet is asked to draw a picture of death he would draw a picture of a man enjoying sound sleep. The poet also finds the remarkable difference between how death causes sleep and sleep caused by mother.

"One short sleep past, we wake eternally"

This line suggests that John Donne believes in the theory of re- birth. This is how he ends the poem by convincing all that there will be no fear of death and death itself will die because nobody will be afraid of it.

2. The Flea

As we saw in general characteristics of metaphysical poetry, the poet steals metaphors from different fields of education. Here in this poem the poet John Donne has used the insect Flea- a biological term to express the love of a lover to his beloved. The poem is addressed to a beloved. Flea is an insect which sucks the blood.

"And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;

Thou know’st that this cannot be said

A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead,"

Here in the poem the lover explains to his beloved that for whatever she denied to her lover has already happened. The flea has sucked the blood of the lover and is now sucking the blood of his beloved. In the flea their blood has already become one and it hasn't caused any sin or shame, has not even caused the loss of honor or maidenhood. The insect swells after sucking their blood which shows that it is happy and if she allows him to advance their happiness will advance. Listening to this argument beloved attempts to kill an insect. The lover refuses and explains that it would be a sin of killing three lives; as it has their mingles love so they two and an insect. But still my beloved kills insects. The lover explains to her that all her ears are false, if she accepts the proposal there won't be any harm to her honor, instead accepting him as a soulmate would increase her honor. In the poem with the help of the image of The Flea the poet remains successful in the expression of the theme of love.

3. The Sun Rising

‘The Sun Rising’ is another poem by John Donne. The poem is addressed by the lover to the rising sun. Here the rising sun is used as a metaphysical image to deal with the theme of love. Generally the rising sun symbolizes new hope and optimism but here it is a symbol of love. In the poem the lover is criticizing the sun rise by saying ‘Busy old fool, unruly sun’. He calls him unruly as he peeps through the windows and curtains into the bedroom of his and his beloved and makes it clear to the rising sun that it cannot regulate or control them through its movement. Going ahead the lover tries to suppress the sunrays by saying that he can cause an eclipse with a moment by closing his eyes but he cannot afford to lose sight of his beloved. Extending the address he informs sunrise that his beloved is the center of the universe. Also says that the sun is not half happy as they both are.

"Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;

This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere."

And at the end he says to the sun that if it shines there to give light and warmth to his beloved it would be equal to giving it to the whole world and his beloved is the center of the universe. ‘The Sun Rising’ is treated as a negative tone to sharpen the theme of love.

4. To His Coy Mistress

‘To His Coy Mistress’ is written by one of the members of the Donne’s school. Andrew Marvell has made a use of an image from an agricultural field.it is also a love poem, addressed to beloved by his lover. In this poem the beloved is very coy- shy and the lover tries to convince her that they do not have enough time so she should not waste time by being shy. They have a limited time of youth. Lover says that if they had enough time and space he would have spent more time praising her and planning a trip with her. The lover explains that if they had enough time he would have spent ten hundred years praising her even if she would object to his proposal. He would have spent hundred years praising her eyes and two hundred years in praising her breast and thirty thousand years in praising the rest of the body because she. Her beloved deserves this kind of honor.

"But at my back I always hear

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity."

But the winged chariot of death is behind them. Also the grave is a private and peaceful place to meet but there they won't be able to express or respond to their love. He compares the span of youth with the morning dew drop on the flower petal. The poem ends with the request of the lover that both should make their time a quality time by responding to each other's love. The last lines are-

"Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run."

5. The Collar

The collar poem is written by George Herbert. Here the title The Collar is suggesting the yoke towards the religion. This Poem shows his serving towards Christianity. The poem is addressed by the sinner and the two selves of the sinner are at the war with each other. The poem sounds like a monologue. Sinner comes across the board and alters which inspires him to leave the life of material pleasure. He feels himself free to take a path of his consciousness, his desire to restore himself in the heart of almighty.

"On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute

Of what is fit and not. Forsake thy cage,

Thy rope of sands,"

While the heart, the free will of Sinner is not ready to get bound by anything. The free will warms sinners to forget the cold war of what is good and what is not good and instigates by saying ‘ Be thy law’. But the sinner is firm on his decision and decides to listen to his lord, conscience and not his free will.

"Methought I heard one calling, Child!

And I replied My Lord."

In the end of the poem the sinner hears someone calling him “child!” and he parts with the world of material pleasure.

This is my understanding of metaphysical poets, poems and its characteristics. I have very briefly explained the poems here. I hope this blog is easily understandable and helpful. For queries please comment. Thanks for visiting.

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Absalom and Achitophel

CHARACTERS IN ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL

This blog is in response to the blog task given us as a classwork on Absalom and Achitophel by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I am going to talk about the characters in the poem who are favoring King David (Charles II) and those who are against him.

Absalom and Achitophel:

Absalom and Achitophel is a Political Satire, satirical verse poem written in heroic couplet by the Poet Laureate of the time John Dryden in the reign of Charles II.  It was published in 1681, Its second part was also published in 1682 by Nahum Tate, a friend of Dryden, in which Dryden anonymously contributed a few lines but it failed to impress the critics.  In this poem Dryden has done the allegorical representation of real public figures of his time with the help of biblical characters. The poem is rooted in the contemporary time.

Literary elements in the poem It is written in heroic couplet - iambic pentameter It features third person narration. It has AABB rhyming scheme. GENRE: Poem → Satire → Political satire

Satire: uses humors, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

The poem starts with a prologue ‘To a Reader’ it states that ‘the true end (objective) of satire is the amendment of vices by correction’, which can be read as a definition of the true satire. Satire is divided into three natures

1. Horatian Satire 

2. Juvenalian Satire 

3. Menippean Satire

It is said in Epilogue:  “Si proprius stes; Te capiet magis” - ‘Stand closer, it will charm you more’

So if one wants to understand or enjoy this poem he/ she needs to come close to this poem because some pieces will strike better if we have a deep insight and some will strike by easy reading. ORIGINAL POEM

As we are talking about political satire, here is a video from ‘So sorry’ which is making a satire of the contemporary government on the rising price of fuels. मोदी सरकार की नई योजना है 'पुश अप करो, पुश करो'। पुश अप तो आप करते होंगे लेकिन उससे भी ज्यादा अच्छी एक्सरसाइज है गाड़ी पुश करें यानि धक्का लगाएं। इसीलिए तो सरकार ने तेल के दाम बढ़ा दिए हैं ताकि आप गाड़ी पर बैठे ना बल्कि धक्का लगाएं और फिट रहें.

CHARACTERS AND THEIR ALLEGORICAL REPRESENTATION IN THE POEM:

Characters	Allegorical representation
David	King Charles II
Absalom	James Scott, Duke of Monmouth
Achitophel	Anthony Ashley Cooper
Saul	Oliver Cromwell
David’s brother	James II
Corah	Titus Oates
Shimei	Slingsby Bethel
Zimri	George Villiers
The Pharaoh	Louis XIV of France
Ishbosheth	Richard Cromwell
Jonas	William Jones
Zadoc	William Sancroft
Barzillai	James Butler
Barzillai’s eldest Son	Thomas Butler
Jotham	George Savile
Amiel	Edward Seymour

MINOR CHARACTERS:

Characters	Allegorical representation
Balaam	Theophilus Hastings
Caleb	Arthur Capel
Nadab	William, Lord Howard Esrick
Zadoc	William Sancroft
Sagan of Jerusalem	Henry Compton
Adriel	John Sheffield
Hushai	Lawrence Hyde
Amnon	(Absalom’s half brother)
Michal	Catherine
Annabel	Anne

Now further we are going to read which characters among this supported David and which were against him.

Against King David	Supports of King David
Absalom	Absalom
Achitophel	Barzillai
Corah	Jotham
Shimei	Ameil
Zimri	Zadoc
The pharaoh	The Pharaoh
Jonas	Hushai
Nadab	Adriel
Caleb	Sagan of Jerusalem
Balaam

CHARACTERS IN DETAIL:

Absalom-

Here we consider Absalom as an opponent as well as a supporter of King David. Absalom is an illegitimate son of King David who is allegorical representation of James Scott (Duke of Monmouth) illegitimate son of King Charles II. 

'Of all this numerous progeny was none

So beautiful, so brave, as Absalom:'

David didn't have a legitimate son and among his all illegitimate Children Absalom was his most favorite child. He was brave, handsome and ambitious. Achitophel believed that The Jews (the English) were not happy in the reign of David and would accept Absalom as their kind. So Achitophel started encouraging Absalom for gaining the throne and to convince him to rebel against King David. But Absalom was not a malicious man, he didn't believe to have any of his right on the crown.

He thus repli'd.—And what pretence have I

To take up arms for public liberty?

'My Father governs with unquestion'd right;

The Faith's defender, and mankind's delight:

Good, gracious, just, observant of the laws;

And Heav'n by wonders has espous'd his cause.

Whom has he wrong'd in all his peaceful reign?

Who sues for justice to his throne in vain?

What millions has he pardon'd of his foes,

Whom just revenge did to his wrath expose?

Mild, easy, humble, studious of our good;

Inclin'd to mercy, and averse from blood.

If mildness ill with stubborn Israel suit,

His crime is God's beloved attribute.'

This stanza of the poem shows his favor towards the rule of King David and his support to the King. In this stanza, Absalom doesn’t think he has any claim to the throne. After all, David  rules with “unquestioned right,” and he is a good king. David is merciful and just, and instead of making his enemies suffer and drawing blood, he pardons them. David’s only crime, Absalom says, “is God’s beloved attribute.”

Achitophel saw that Absalom was not conceived so he stepped up his flattery. 

'Th'eternal God, supremely good and wise,

Imparts not these prodigious gifts in vain;

What wonders are reserv'd to bless your reign?

Against your will your arguments have shown,

Such virtue's only giv'n to guide a throne.'

Here Achitophel tries to be a king maker. He boosts the ambition and desire in Absalom to be a king. With the temptation of gaining the throne he joined Achitophel in the rebellion against King David. Absalom and Achitophel show David’s merciful and good nature as a weakness. But in the end King David lost his patience and stopped this rebellion. The temptation of Absalom by Achitophel makes Absalom an opponent of King David. 

Achitophel-

Achitophel is an allegorical representation of Anthony Ashley Cooper. He was dishonest counselor of King David and an antagonist of Absalom and Achitophel. This line of the poem shows his cynicism.  

'In friendship false, implacable in hate,

Resolved to ruin or to rule the state,

To compass this the Triple Bond he broke,

The pillars of the public safety shook,

And fitted Israel for a foreign yoke.

Then, seized with fear, yet still affecting fame,

Usurped a patriot’s all-atoning name.' 

Achitophel was a counselor of David, he pretended to be a friend of David with evil thoughts of ruling Israel or destroying it. Achitophel to ruin king David incites anti Jebusite in the Jews and encourages Absalom to join him to rebel against King David. Achitophel hated David’s brother and didn't want him to sit on the throne. He knew that it was not an argument enough to defame King David. So Achitophel provoked Jews as he knew about Jews fear about Jebusite, and planned to bring David down inside the government. Along with, included Absalom in his rebellion against David by flattering.

Corah-

Corah in an allegorical representation of Titus Oates, the Englishman who engineered the Popish Plot. He was the most important person of Achitophel. He was a priest.

'Yet, Corah, thou shalt from oblivion pass;

Erect thyself thou monumental brass:

High as the serpent of thy metal made,

While nations stand secure beneath thy shade.'

Corah was a priest but he was lying about his degree of priest (rabbinical degree). Even in contemporary times, people blindly believe in saints, people connected to  religion (dharma gurus). In the same way the Jews, people of that time blindly believed what the corah said. He played an important role for Achitophel. His plotting and planning helped Achitophel to dishonor David’s brother and to please Absalom. And the Jews easily believed in a fake plot, The popish plot. (Popish Plot, (1678), in English history, a totally fictitious but widely believed plot in which it was alleged that Jebusites were planning the assassination of King Charles II in order to bring his Roman Catholic brother, the Duke of York (afterward King James II), to the throne.)

Shimei-

Shimei is an allegorical representation of Slingsby Bethel the sheriff of London and a member of Parliament, who also supported the Exclusion Bill.

'Shimei, whose youth did early promise bring

Of zeal to God, and hatred to his king;

Did wisely from expensive sins refrain,

And never broke the Sabbath, but for gain:

Nor ever was he known an oath to vent,

Or curse, unless against the government.'

Shimei was a treason and a dishonest crook, he used to steal all the benefits of the Jews. But still Jews selected him as the magistrate. Shimei unanimously (fully in agreement) all the juries to punish David’s supporters and to support all his enemies. As a magistrate, a part of parliament he played a role in bringing down the fame of King David

Zimri-

Zimri is an allegorical representation of George Villiers, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, an English statesman and poet.

'In the first rank of these did Zimri stand:

A man so various, that he seem'd to be

Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome.'

According to Dryden, Zimri was a ‘Buffon’ - a man who is a ridiculous but amusing person. ‘A man so various’ this phrase meant that he followed many different professions. He was among the Achitophel men; he also played an active role in the Popish plot. 

Jonas-

Jonas is an allegorical representation of Sir William Jones, a member of Parliament.

'Not bull-faced Jonas, who could statutes draw

To mean rebellion, and make treason law.'

Jonas was a member of parliament, he was a great powerful man so he could easily operate all the laws. Jonas accused Catholics, supporters of King David in a popish plot and supported the exclusion bill.  In the accusation, Michal, wife of King David, was also accused.

Nadab-

Nadab is an allegorical representation of William, Lord Howard Esrick. 

'And canting Nadab let oblivion damn,

Who made new porridge for the Paschal Lamb.'

He is one of the minor characters in the poem and one of Achitophel’s men. He represents William, Lord Howard Esrick, a Puritan preacher who supported the Exclusion Bill. The word “porridge” was used to describe the Book of Common Prayer by those who refused to conform to the Act of Uniformity, which implies that Achitophel and his men are nonconformists and working against the government instead of for it.

Caleb and Balaam-

Caleb is an allegorical representation of Arthur Capel, Earl of Essex and Balaam is representation of Theophilus Hastings, a Member of Parliament.

'And, therefore in the name of dullness, be

The well-hung Balaam and cold Caleb free.'

Caleb and Balaam are the minor characters in the poem. Calem was the prominent advocate on the exclusion bill. Balaam was a proponent of the exclusion bill. 

Barzillai-

Barzillai is an allegorical representation of James Butler,1st Duke of Ormond.

'In this short file Barzillai first appears;

Barzillai crown'd with honour and with years:

Long since, the rising rebels he withstood'

As the plan of Achitophel everyone was becoming against King David. There were very few who were supporting and trusting King David, they were his  friends which were loyal and trusted. Barzillai was among them. He was in exile with King David after the death of Saul.

Jotham-

Jotham is an allegorical representation of Jotham as the king of Judah and the grandson of Zadoc.

'Jotham of piercing wit and pregnant thought,

Endow'd by Nature, and by learning taught

To move assemblies, who but only tri'd

The worse awhile, then chose the better side;

Nor chose alone, but turn'd the balance too;

So much the weight of one brave man can do.'

.

Jotham was one of David's trusted and loyal friends and supporters. George Savile, the nephew of the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, the man allegorized in the character Achitophel. Jotham is credited for his active contribution in defeating the exclusion bill in parliament.

Amiel- 

Amiel is an allegorical representation of Edward Seymour, the speaker of the House of Commons in Parliament.

'For Amiel, who can Amiel's praise refuse?

Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet

In his own worth, and without title great:

The Sanhedrin long time as chief he rul'd,

Their reason guided, and their passion cool'd;

So dext'rous was he in the crown's defence,

So form'd to speak a loyal nation's sense,

That as their band was Israel's tribes in small,

So fit was he to represent them all.'

Amiel was among trusted and loyal men of David. He was a significant member of the Sanhedrin (English Parliament). He helped to end the uprising against David in the parliament and was a great opponent of the exclusion bill.  

The Pharaoh- 

Pharaoh is an allegorical representation of Louis XIV of France. 

'Naked of friends and round beset with foes?

If Pharaoh's doubtful succour he should use,

A foreign aid would more incense the Jews:

Proud Egypt would dissembled friendship bring;'

The pharaoh pretended to be a friend of King David but in reality he was planning to destroy King David and the Jews. The Pharaoh represented Louis XIV of France which meant he was a Catholics and it worked as a proof that Charles was also a Catholic like his brother James and was trying to force the protestant to follow Catholic religion. Here we are placing Pharaoh as a supporter and opponent both as in the eyes of people he was a supporter and with his reference David was considered Catholic but in reality he was with an idea of exploiting David’s rule. 

Hushai-

Hushai is an allegorical representation of Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester

'Hushai, the friend of David in distress,

In public storms of manly steadfastness;

By foreign treaties he inform'd his youth;

And join'd experience to his native truth.'

Hushai is a minor character in the poem but he is among the loyal and trusted men of King David. He played an important role in parliament standing against the exclusion bill. And according to the Bible’s reference he agreed to spy on Absalom during his rebellion against King David under the influence of Achitophel..

Zadoc, Adriel & Sagan of Jerusalem-

Zadoc is an allegorical representation of William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury. Adriel represented John Sheffield, 3rd Earl of Mulgrave and Sagan of Jerusalem represented Henry Compton, Bishop of London.

'Zadoc the priest whom, shunning, pow'r and place,

His lowly mind advanc'd to David's grace:

With him the Sagan of Jerusalem,

Of hospitable soul and noble stem;

Him of the western dome, whose weighty sense

Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence.'

'Next them a train of loyal peers ascend:

Sharp judging Adriel, the Muse's friend,

Himself a Muse:—in Sanhedrin's debate

True to his prince; but not a slave of state.'

Zadoc, Adriel and Sagan of Jerusalem are the minor characters in the poem and the loyal and trusted men of King David. Ariel very keenly opposed the succession of Absalom and voted for James II. All three didn't play a great role but were unconditional supporters of King David.

I hope my this blog might be helpful to you to understand the supporters and opponents easily. If you find any changes or queries post in a comment box. Thanks for visiting.