Fiddled out of Reason examines Addison's poetic oeuvre in context of the nondevotional hymn, an underexplored genre of eighteenth-century verse. It concentrates on poems such as Addison's Cecilian odes, Rosamond, and five hymnic works for The Spectator, as well as Dryden's “Song for St Cecilia's Day” and “Alexander's Feast” and Pope's “Messiah.”