Quote#Speech
For rhetoric, he could not ope
Quote bySamuel Butler (poet) · 1612–1680
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Part I (1663–1664), Canto I, line 81.
English (original)
For rhetoric, he could not ope His mouth, but out there flew a trope; And when he happen'd to break off I' th' middle of his speech, or cough, H' had hard words,ready to show why, And tell what rules he did it by; Else, when with greatest art he spoke, You'd think he talk'd like other folk, For all a rhetorician's rules Teach nothing but to name his tools.
— Samuel Butler (poet)
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