Namby-pamby is a term for affected, weak, and maudlin speech/verse. It originates from ''Namby Pamby'' (1725) by Henry Carey. Carey wrote his poem as a satire of

Ambrose Philips Ambrose Philips (167418 June 1749) was an English poet and politician. He feuded with other poets of his time, resulting in Henry Carey bestowing the nickname " Namby-Pamby" upon him, which came to mean affected, weak, and maudlin speech or ver ...

and published it in his ''Poems on Several Occasions''. Its first publication was ''Namby Pamby: or, a panegyrick on the new versification address'd to A----- P----'', where the A-- P-- implicated Ambrose Philips. Philips had written a series of

ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

s in a new prosody of seven-syllable lines and dedicated it to "all ages and characters, from Walpole ''steerer of the realm'', to Miss Pulteney in the nursery." This 3.5' line became a matter of consternation for more conservative poets, and a matter of mirth for Carey. Carey adopts Philips's choppy line-form for his

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

and latches onto the dedication to nurseries to create an apparent nursery rhyme that is, in fact, a grand bit of nonsense and satire mixed. Philips was a figure who had become politically active and was a darling of the Whig party. He was also a target of the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

satirists.

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

had criticized Philips repeatedly (in ''The Guardian'' and in his ''

Peri Bathos "Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry" is a short essay by Alexander Pope published in 1728. The aim of the essay is to ridicule contemporary poets. Content "Peri Bathous" is a blow Pope struck in an ongoing struggle against the "dunc ...

'', among other places), and praising or condemning Philips was a political as much as poetic matter in the 1720s, with the nickname also employed by John Gay and

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

. The poem begins with a mock-epic opening (as had Pope's ''

Rape of the Lock ''The Rape of the Lock'' is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque, it was first published anonymously in Lintot's ''Miscellaneous Poems and Translations'' (May 1712) ...

'' and as had Dryden's ''MacFlecknoe''), calling all the muses to witness the glory of Philips's prosodic reform: :"All ye Poets of the Age! :All ye Witlings of the Stage! :Learn your Jingles to reform! :Crop your Numbers and Conform: :Let your little Verses flow :Gently, Sweetly, Row by Row: :Let the Verse the Subject fit; :Little Subject, Little Wit. :Namby-Pamby is your Guide; :Albion's Joy, Hibernia's Pride." Carey's ''Namby Pamby'' had enormous success. It became so successful that people began to call Philips himself "Namby Pamby" (as, for example, in ''

The Dunciad ''The Dunciad'' is a landmark, mock-heroic, narrative poem by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess Dulness and the progress of her chosen agents as they bri ...

'' in 1727), as he had been renamed by the poem, and Carey was referred to as "Namby Pamby Carey". The poem sold well and he used this style in various other short poems.

References

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External links

Namby-Pamby: or, A Panegyric on the New Versification
at Representative Poetry Online British satirical poems British poems 1725 poems English phrases

See also

References

External links