The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Lives of the poetsW. Pickering, 1825 |
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Page 9
... against him . What made him so acrimonious does not appear : he was by nature no thirster for blood . Prior was , a week after , committed to close custody , with orders that " no person should be admitted to see him PRIOR . 9.
... against him . What made him so acrimonious does not appear : he was by nature no thirster for blood . Prior was , a week after , committed to close custody , with orders that " no person should be admitted to see him PRIOR . 9.
Page 15
... nature or by passion , and have neither gallantry nor tenderness . They have the coldness of Cow- ley , without his wit , the dull exercises of a skilful versifier , resolved , at all adventures , to write something about Chloe , and ...
... nature or by passion , and have neither gallantry nor tenderness . They have the coldness of Cow- ley , without his wit , the dull exercises of a skilful versifier , resolved , at all adventures , to write something about Chloe , and ...
Page 17
... nature , a poem of any length , cold and lifeless like this , may be easily written on any subject . In his epilogues to Phædra and to Lucius he is very happily facetious ; but in the prologue before the queen , the pedant has found his ...
... nature , a poem of any length , cold and lifeless like this , may be easily written on any subject . In his epilogues to Phædra and to Lucius he is very happily facetious ; but in the prologue before the queen , the pedant has found his ...
Page 25
... nature . The characters , both of men and women , are either fictitious and artificial , as those of Heartwell , and the ladies ; or easy and common , as Wittol , a tame idiot ; Bluff , a swaggering coward ; and Fondle wife , a jealous ...
... nature . The characters , both of men and women , are either fictitious and artificial , as those of Heartwell , and the ladies ; or easy and common , as Wittol , a tame idiot ; Bluff , a swaggering coward ; and Fondle wife , a jealous ...
Page 26
... natural , but he is very pleasant . With this play was opened the new theatre , under the direction of Betterton the tragedian ; where he exhibited , two years afterwards , 1697 , the Mourning Bride , a tra- gedy , so written as to show ...
... natural , but he is very pleasant . With this play was opened the new theatre , under the direction of Betterton the tragedian ; where he exhibited , two years afterwards , 1697 , the Mourning Bride , a tra- gedy , so written as to show ...
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Popular passages
Page 325 - What his mind could supply at call, or gather in one excursion, was all that he sought and all that he gave. The dilatory caution of Pope enabled him to condense his sentiments, to multiply his images, and to accumulate all that study might produce or chance might supply.
Page 345 - After all this, it is surely superfluous to answer the question that has once been asked, Whether Pope was a poet ? otherwise than by asking in return, If Pope be not a poet, where is poetry to be found...
Page 323 - For this reason he kept his pieces very long in his hands, while he considered and reconsidered them. The only poems which can be supposed to have been written with such regard to the times as might hasten their publication, were the two satires of " Thirty-eight "; of which Dodsley told me, that they were brought to him by the author, that they might be fairly copied.
Page 160 - Wanderer,' the man of exalted sentiments, extensive views, and curious observations; the man whose remarks on life might have assisted the statesman, whose ideas of virtue might have enlightened the moralist, whose eloquence might have influenced senates, and whose delicacy might have polished courts.
Page 485 - To select a singular event, and swell it to a giant's bulk by fabulous appendages of spectres and predictions, has little difficulty; for he that forsakes the probable may always find the marvellous. And it has little use; we are affected only as we believe; we are improved only as we find something to be imitated or declined. I do not see that "The Bard" promotes any truth, moral or political.
Page 324 - Dryden knew more of man in his general nature, and Pope in his local manners'. The notions of Dryden'were formed by comprehensive speculation, and those of Pope by minute attention. There is more dignity in the knowledge of Dryden, and more certainty in that of Pope.
Page 314 - Age," and are now the friendships only of children. Very few can boast of hearts which they dare lay open to themselves, and of which, by whatever accident exposed, they do not shun a distinct and continued view ; and certainly, what we hide from h 3 ourselves we do not shew to our friends.
Page 32 - Looking tranquillity! It strikes an awe And terror on my aching sight; the tombs And monumental caves of death look cold, And shoot a chillness to my trembling heart.
Page 67 - He began on it, and when first he mentioned it to Swift, the Doctor did not much like the project. As he carried it on, he showed what he wrote to both of us; and we now and then gave a correction, or a word or two of advice; but it was wholly of his own writing. When it was done, neither of us thought it would succeed. We showed it to Congreve, who, after reading it over, said, "It would either take greatly, or be damned confoundedly.
Page 379 - Liberty," when it first appeared, I tried to read, and soon desisted. I have never tried again, and therefore will not hazard either praise or censure. The highest praise which he has received ought not to be suppressed : it is said by Lord Lyttelton, in the Prologue to his posthumous play, that his works contained No line which, dying, he could wish to blot.