Cover of A Hymn to the Pillory

Cover via Internet Archive

A Hymn to the Pillory

Portrait of Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe

Portrait via Wikipedia

A satirical poem Defoe wrote while awaiting the pillory for seditious libel, turning his punishment into an attack on those who put him there. Sold in the streets, it is said to have won over the crowd that came to watch.

GenrePoetry· first published 1703

Vivek’s Notes

Defoe turned personal disaster into a public-relations triumph with this satire, written in Newgate prison while waiting to be put in the pillory for mocking high-church Tory intolerance of dissenters like himself. And sadly there was no one like Friday to keep him company.

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