Part 86 (1/2)

_Father of English Poetry_, Geoffrey Chaucer (1328-1400).

_Father of Epic Poetry_, Homer.

He compares Richardson to Homer, and predicts for his memory the same honors which are rendered to the Father of Epic Poetry.--Sir W. Scott.

=Poetry--Prose.= Pope advised Wycherly ”to convert his poetry into prose.”

=Poganuc=, small Puritan town in New England as it was 100 years ago.--Harriet Beecher Stowe, _Poganuc People_ (1876).

=Po'gram= (_Elijah_), one of the ”master minds” of America, and a member of Congress. He was possessed with the idea that there was a settled opposition in the British mind against the inst.i.tutions of his ”free and enlightened country.”--C. d.i.c.kens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (1844).

=Poinder= (_George_), a city officer.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

=Poins=, a companion of Sir John Falstaff.--Shakespeare, 1 and 2 _Henry IV._ (1597, 1598).

The chronicles of that day contain accounts of many a mad prank which [_Lord Warwick, Addison's step-son_] played ... [_like_] the lawless freaks of the madcap prince and Poins.--Thackeray.

=Poison.= It is said that Mithridates VI., surnamed ”the Great,” had so fortified his const.i.tution that poisons had no baneful effect on him (B.C. 131, 120-63).

=Poison of Khabar.= By this is meant the poison put into a leg of mutton by Zanab, a Jewess, to kill Mahomet while he was in the citadel of Kha'bar. Mahomet partook of the mutton, and suffered from the poison all through life.

=Poisoners= (_Secret_).

1. _Of Ancient Rome_: Locusta, employed by Agrippi'na to poison her husband, the Emperor Claudius. Nero employed the same woman to poison Britannicus and others.

2. _Of English History_: the countess of Somerset, who poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London. She also poisoned others.

Villiers, duke of Buckingham, it is said poisoned King James I.

3. _Of France_: Lavoisin and Lavigoreux, French midwives and fortune-tellers.

Catherine de Medicis is said to have poisoned the mother of Henri IV.

with a pair of wedding-gloves, and several others with poisoned fans.

The marquise de Brinvilliers, a young profligate Frenchwoman, was taught the art of secret poisoning by Sainte-Croix, who learnt it in Italy.--_World of Wonders_, vii. 203.

4. _Of Italy_: Pope Alexander VI. and his children, Caesar and Lucrezia [Borgia] were noted poisoners; so were Hieronyma Spara and Tofa'na.

=Polexan'dre=, an heroic romance by Gomberville (1632).

=Policy= (_Mrs._), housekeeper at Holyrood Palace. She appears in the introduction.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

=Pol'idore= (3 _syl._), father of Valere.--Moliere, _Le Depit Amoureux_ (1654).