The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets;: Pope. Pitt. Thomson. Watts. A. Philips. West. Collins. Dyer. Shenstone. Young. Waller. Akenside. Gray. LytteltonC. Bathurst, J. Buckland, W. Strahan, J. Rivington and Sons, T. Davies, T. Payne, L. Davis, W. Owen, B. White, S. Crowder, T. Caslon, T. Longman, ... [and 24 others], 1781 - English poetry - 503 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
affected afterwards appear attention beauties believe called character common confidered continued copy death defire delight died Dryden edition elegance Engliſh excellence expected faid fame father favour fays feems fhew firft firſt fome fometimes foon formed friendſhip fuch fufficient gave give given hand himſelf honour hope human Italy kind knowledge known labour Lady laft language laſt late learning Letters lines lived Lord manner mean mentioned mind moſt muſt nature never Night numbers once opinion original performances perhaps pieces pleaſed pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry Pope Pope's praiſe printed produced publick publiſhed reader reaſon received remarked reputation ſeems ſhould tell theſe thing thofe thoſe thought tion told tranflation true truth verfe verſes volumes whofe write written wrote Young
Popular passages
Page 353 - I have found out a gift for my fair; I have found where the wood-pigeons breed; But let me that plunder forbear, She will say 'twas a barbarous deed...
Page 171 - 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 120 - Who but must laugh if such a man there be ? Who would not weep if Atticus were he?
Page 185 - Cheer'd the rough road, we wish'd the rough road long; The rough road then, returning in a round, Mock'd our impatient steps, for all was fairy ground.
Page 485 - In the character of his Elegy I rejoice to concur with the common reader; for by the common sense of readers uncorrupted with literary prejudices, after all the refinements of subtilty and the dogmatism of learning, must be finally decided all claim to poetical honours.
Page 125 - Man, of which he has given this account to Dr. Swift. March 25, 1736. If ever I write any more Epistles in verse one of them shall be addressed to you. I have long concerted it, and begun it; but I would make what bears your name as finished as my last work ought to be, that is to say, more finished than any of the rest. The subject is large, and will divide into four Epistles, which naturally follow the Essay on Man, viz.
Page 172 - The style of Dryden is capricious and varied; that of Pope is cautious and uniform. Dryden 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 55 - As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night, O'er Heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light, When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene, Around her throne the vivid planets roll, And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole ; O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed, And tip with silver every mountain's head...
Page 238 - 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 291 - But his devotional poetry is, like that of others, unsatisfactory. The paucity of its topics enforces perpetual repetition, and the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction. It is sufficient for Watts to have done better than others what no man has done well.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets;: Pope. Pitt. Thomson. Watts. A. Philips. West. Collins. Dyer. Shenstone. Young. Waller. Akenside. Gray. Lyttelton Volume 4 of The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets;: With Critical Observations on Their Works, Samuel Johnson |
| Author | Samuel Johnson |
| Publisher | C. Bathurst, J. Buckland, W. Strahan, J. Rivington and Sons, T. Davies, T. Payne, L. Davis, W. Owen, B. White, S. Crowder, T. Caslon, T. Longman, ... [and 24 others], 1781 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | Oct 4, 2007 |
| Length | 503 pages |
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