Matthew Prior

But Alma an admitted imitation of Samuel Butler is a delightful piece of wayward easy humour full of witty turns and well-remembered allusions and Prior's mastery of the octo-syllabic couplet is greater than that of Jonathan Swift or Pope. e. His father moved to London and sent him to Westminster School under Dr.

Solomon and the paraphrase of The Nut-Brown Maid are the least successful. The sum received for this volume (4000 guineas) with a present of £4000 from Lord Harley enabled him to live in comfort; but he did not long survive his enforced retirement from public life although he bore his ups and downs with rare equanimity. After four years of this he was appointed a gentleman of the King's bedchamber.