The works of the English poets. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Volume 471790 |
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Page 7
... thought , fince the danger was common to all , the concern ought to be fo ; and that it was an act of justice to detect the authors , not only on this account , but as many of them are the fame who for several years paft have made free ...
... thought , fince the danger was common to all , the concern ought to be fo ; and that it was an act of justice to detect the authors , not only on this account , but as many of them are the fame who for several years paft have made free ...
Page 8
... thought the leaft valuable part of his cha- racter ) , but the honest , open , and beneficent man , that we most esteemed , and loved in him . Now , if what these people say were believed , I must ap- pear to all my friends either a ...
... thought the leaft valuable part of his cha- racter ) , but the honest , open , and beneficent man , that we most esteemed , and loved in him . Now , if what these people say were believed , I must ap- pear to all my friends either a ...
Page 9
... thought of : law can pro- nounce judgment only on open facts : morality alone can pafs cenfure on intentions of mischief ; fo that for fecret calumny , or the arrow flying in the dark , there is no public punishment left , but what a ...
... thought of : law can pro- nounce judgment only on open facts : morality alone can pafs cenfure on intentions of mischief ; fo that for fecret calumny , or the arrow flying in the dark , there is no public punishment left , but what a ...
Page 24
... thoughts are crude and abortive , his expreffions " abfurd , his numbers harsh and unmufical , his rhymes trivial and common ; -inftead of majesty , 66 we have something that is very mean ; instead of " gravity , fomething that is very ...
... thoughts are crude and abortive , his expreffions " abfurd , his numbers harsh and unmufical , his rhymes trivial and common ; -inftead of majesty , 66 we have something that is very mean ; instead of " gravity , fomething that is very ...
Page 25
... thoughts over again , making " them ftill more trite . Moft of their pieces are " nothing but a pert , infipid heap of common - place . " Horace has , even in his Art of Poetry , thrown " out feveral things which plainly fhew , he thought ...
... thoughts over again , making " them ftill more trite . Moft of their pieces are " nothing but a pert , infipid heap of common - place . " Horace has , even in his Art of Poetry , thrown " out feveral things which plainly fhew , he thought ...
Common terms and phrases
abufed abuſe Advertiſements Æneid affures againſt alfo ancient Bavius Bookfellers called caufe cauſe character Charles Gildon Cibber Criticiſm Critics Curll Dæmon defign Dennis Dryden dull Dulneſs Dunce Dunciad Edition Edmund Curll Effay Epic faid fame fatire fays fecond feem feven fhall fhew fhould fince fing firft firſt fleep fome ftand ftill fubject fuch fure genius gentleman Gildon Goddefs greateſt hath Hero himſelf Homer honour Ibid Iliad JOHN DENNIS Journal juft King laft laſt learned lefs Letter LEWIS THEOBALD Lord Mift's moft moſt Mufe muſt o'er obferved occafioned octavo Oldmixon perfons pleaſure Poem Poet Poetry Pope Pope's praiſe Pref prefent printed profe publiſhed racter reader reafon reft REMARKS rife SCRIBL Scriblerus Senfe Shakeſpeare ſhall ſome thee thefe Theobald theſe thing thofe thoſe thou Tibbald tranflated uſe VARIATION verfe verſes Virgil Welfted whofe whoſe word writ writings
Popular passages
Page 259 - Night primeval and of Chaos old ! Before her, fancy's gilded clouds decay, And all its varying rainbows die away. Wit shoots in vain its momentary fires, The meteor drops, and in a flash expires. As one by one, at dread Medea's strain, The sick'ning stars fade off th' ethereal plain ; As Argus
Page 260 - Light dies before thy uncreating word : Thy hand, great Anarch, lets the curtain fall, And universal darkness buries all.
Page 213 - The moon-struck prophet felt the madding hour : Then rose the seed of Chaos, and of Night, To blot out order, and extinguish light, Of dull and venal a new world to mould, And bring Saturnian days of lead and gold.
Page 104 - For thee we dim the eyes, and stuff the head With all such reading as was never read : For thee explain a thing till all men doubt it, And write about it, goddess, and about it : So spins the silkworm small its slender store, And labours till it clouds itself all o'er.
Page 97 - Blasphem'd his gods, the dice, and damn'd his fate ; Then gnaw'd his pen, then dash'd it on the ground, Sinking from thought to thought, a vast profound ! Plung'd for his sense, but found no bottom there, Yet wrote and flounder'd on in mere despair.
Page 205 - Furthermore, it drove out of England (for that season) the Italian Opera, which had carried all before it for ten years.
Page 26 - ... or science, which have not been touched upon by others ; we have little else left us, but to represent the common sense of mankind in more strong, more beautiful, or more uncommon lights. If a reader examines Horace's Art of Poetry...
Page 205 - The person who acted Polly, till then obscure, became all at once the favourite of the town ; her pictures were engraved, and sold in great numbers ; her life written, books of letters and verses to her published, and pamphlets made even of her sayings and jests.
Page 204 - This piece was received with greater applause than was ever known. Besides being acted in London sixtythree days without interruption, and renewed the next season with equal applause, it spread into all the great towns of England; was played in many places to the thirtieth and fortieth time ; at Bath and Bristol fifty, &c.
Page 196 - The forests dance, the rivers upward rise, Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies ; And last, to give the whole creation grace, Lo ! one vast egg produces human race. Joy fills his soul, joy innocent of thought : 'What power,' he cries, 'what power these wonders wrought?