Swift says in a letter (dated April 12, 1735) to Mr. Thomas Beach:—
'Upon which I took the number of lines, which are in all 299, the odd number being occasioned by what they call a triplet, which was a vicious way of rhyming, wherewith Dryden abounded, and was imitated by all the bad versifiers of Charles II's reign. Dryden, though my near relation, is one I have often blamed as well as pitied. He was poor and in great haste to finish his plays, because by them he chiefly supported his family, and this made him so very incorrect; he likewise brought in the Alexandrine verse at the end of his triplets. I was so angry at these corruptions that above 24 years ago I banished them all by one triplet, with the Alexandrine, upon a very ridiculous subject.'