The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: The lives of the English poets (cont.) Lives of eminent personsG. Cowie & Company, 1825 |
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Page 1
... tion , that he seems to have received him into his inmost confidence ; and a friendship was formed between them , VOL . IV . • Goldworthy does not appear in the Villare . Dr. J. B which lasted to their separation by death , without any.
... tion , that he seems to have received him into his inmost confidence ; and a friendship was formed between them , VOL . IV . • Goldworthy does not appear in the Villare . Dr. J. B which lasted to their separation by death , without any.
Page 6
... tion which Spence has given in Pope's words . " Dr. Swift had been observing once to Mr. Gay , what an odd pretty sort of a thing a Newgate Pastoral might make . Gay was inclined to try at such a thing for some time ; but afterwards ...
... tion which Spence has given in Pope's words . " Dr. Swift had been observing once to Mr. Gay , what an odd pretty sort of a thing a Newgate Pastoral might make . Gay was inclined to try at such a thing for some time ; but afterwards ...
Page 9
... tion of a popular audience , that it is likely to keep long possession of the stage . Whether this new drama was the product of judgment or of luck , the praise of it must be given to the inventor ; and there are many writers read with ...
... tion of a popular audience , that it is likely to keep long possession of the stage . Whether this new drama was the product of judgment or of luck , the praise of it must be given to the inventor ; and there are many writers read with ...
Page 14
... tion of his works , I never saw : Once a Lover and always a Lover , is said to be in a great degree indecent and gross . Granville could not admire without bigotry ; he copied the wrong as well as the right from his masters , and may be ...
... tion of his works , I never saw : Once a Lover and always a Lover , is said to be in a great degree indecent and gross . Granville could not admire without bigotry ; he copied the wrong as well as the right from his masters , and may be ...
Page 16
... tion Sir Richard Greenville , whom lord Clarendon has shewn in a form very unamiable . So much is urged in this apology to justify many actions that have been repre- sented as culpable , and to palliate the rest , that the reader is ...
... tion Sir Richard Greenville , whom lord Clarendon has shewn in a form very unamiable . So much is urged in this apology to justify many actions that have been repre- sented as culpable , and to palliate the rest , that the reader is ...
Common terms and phrases
acquaintance Addison afterwards appeared Ascham authour blank verse Bohemia censure character considered contempt continued court criticks death declared degree desire diligence discovered Drake Dryden Dunciad easily EDWARD CAVE elegant endeavoured enemies English expected father favour fortune friends friendship gave genius Gentleman's Magazine honour hope Iliad imagination kind king of Prussia knowledge labour lady language learning letter lived lord mankind mind nature never Night Thoughts Nombre de Dios observed occasion opinion perhaps physick pinnaces pleased pleasure poem poet poetical poetry Pope Pope's pounds praise present prince printed procured publick published queen racter reader reason received Religio Medici remarkable reputation retired Savage says seems sent shew ships Silesia Sir Robert Walpole solicited sometimes soon Spaniards sufficient supposed Swift Symerons tion told translation Tyrconnel verses virtue write written wrote Young
Popular passages
Page 403 - The Church-yard abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo. The four stanzas, beginning " Yet even these bones," are to me original : I have never seen the notions in any other place ; yet he that reads them here persuades himself that he has always felt them. Had Gray written often thus, it had been vain to blame, and useless to praise him.
Page 329 - Whether to plant a walk in undulating curves, and to place a bench at every turn where there is an object to catch the view; to make water run where it will be heard, and to stagnate where it will be seen; to leave intervals where the eye will be pleased, and to thicken the plantation where there is something to be hidden, demands any great powers of mind, I will not enquire: perhaps a sullen and surly speculator may think such performances rather the sport than the business of human reason.
Page 251 - The style of Dryden is capricious and varied; that of Pope is cautious and uniform. Dryden i obeys the motions of his own mind ; Pope constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid ; Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle.
Page 131 - And to urge another argument of a parallel nature: if Christianity were once abolished, how could the free-thinkers, the strong reasoners, and the men of profound learning, be able to find another subject so calculated in all points whereon to display their abilities? What wonderful productions of wit should we be deprived of, from those whose genius by continual practice hath been wholly turned upon raillery and invectives against religion, and would therefore never be able to shine or distinguish...
Page 279 - Thy reliques, Rowe, to this fair urn we trust, And, sacred, place by Dryden's awful dust ; Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies, To which thy tomb shall guide inquiring eyes. Peace to thy gentle shade, and endless rest ' Blest in thy genius, in thy love, too, blest ! One grateful woman to thy fame supplies What a whole thankless land to his denies.
Page 300 - The poet leads us through the appearances of things as they are successively varied by the vicissitudes of the year, and imparts to us so much of his own enthusiasm, that our thoughts expand with his imagery and kindle with his sentiments.
Page 325 - I have formerly said of his writings may be added, that his diction was often harsh, unskilfully laboured, and injudiciously selected. He affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of revival ; and he puts his words out of the common order, seeming to think, with some later candidates for fame, that not to write prose is certainly to write poetry.
Page 286 - Yet softer honours, and less noisy fame, Attend the shade of gentle Buckingham : In whom a race, for courage fam'd and art, Ends in the milder merit of the heart : And, chiefs or sages long to Britain given, Pays the last tribute of a saint to Heaven.
Page 206 - He was not without hopes that, by manifesting the dulness of those who had only malice to recommend them, either the booksellers would not find their account in employing them, or the men themselves, when discovered, want courage to proceed in so unlawful an occupation. This it was that gave birth to the 'Dunciad...
Page 402 - These odes are marked by glittering accumulations of ungraceful ornaments; they strike, rather than please; the images are magnified by affectation; the language is laboured into harshness. The mind of the writer seems to work with unnatural violence. " Double, double, toil and trouble.