The works of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Volume 1 |
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Page 24
In his verses to Lord Falkland , whom every man of his time was proud to · praise
, there are , as there must be in all Cowley ' s compositions , some striking
thoughts ; but they are not well wrought . His elegy on Sir Henry Wotton is vi .
gorous ...
In his verses to Lord Falkland , whom every man of his time was proud to · praise
, there are , as there must be in all Cowley ' s compositions , some striking
thoughts ; but they are not well wrought . His elegy on Sir Henry Wotton is vi .
gorous ...
Page 30
He takes the liberty of using in any place a verse of any length , from two
syllables to twelve . The verses of Pindar have , as he observes , very little
harmony to a modern ear ; yet by examiring the syllables we perceive them to be
regular , and ...
He takes the liberty of using in any place a verse of any length , from two
syllables to twelve . The verses of Pindar have , as he observes , very little
harmony to a modern ear ; yet by examiring the syllables we perceive them to be
regular , and ...
Page 39
A bounaless verse , a headlong verse , and a verse of brass or of strong brass ,
seem to comprise very incongruous and unsociable ideas . What there is ... In the
Davideis are some hemistichs , or verses left In co W L EY , * In the second book;
...
A bounaless verse , a headlong verse , and a verse of brass or of strong brass ,
seem to comprise very incongruous and unsociable ideas . What there is ... In the
Davideis are some hemistichs , or verses left In co W L EY , * In the second book;
...
Page 111
His interposition of a long paragraph of blank verses is anwarrantably licentious .
... Blank verse , left merely to its numbers , has little operation either on the ear or
mind : it can hardly support itself without bold figures and striking images .
His interposition of a long paragraph of blank verses is anwarrantably licentious .
... Blank verse , left merely to its numbers , has little operation either on the ear or
mind : it can hardly support itself without bold figures and striking images .
Page 158
The rest goes on to a prodigious height ; and a man in Greenland could hardly
have made a more pathetick and terrible complaint . Is it not surprising that the
subject should be so mean , and the verse so pompous ; that the least things in
his ...
The rest goes on to a prodigious height ; and a man in Greenland could hardly
have made a more pathetick and terrible complaint . Is it not surprising that the
subject should be so mean , and the verse so pompous ; that the least things in
his ...
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Common terms and phrases
Addison afterwards appears attention believe called character common considered continued conversation criticism death delight desire died discovered Dryden easily effect elegance English equal excellence expected expression favour formed friends gave genius give given hand honour hope imagination Italy kind King knowledge known Lady language learning least less letter lines lived Lord manner means mentioned Milton mind nature never night numbers observed obtained occasion once opinion original passed performance perhaps person play pleased pleasure poem poet poetical poetry Pope pounds praise present probably produced published reader reason received remarks reputation Savage says seems sent shew sometimes soon success sufficient supposed tell thing thought tion told tragedy translation true verses virtue whole write written wrote Young
Popular passages
Page 562 - The sound must seem an echo to the sense : Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar : When Ajax strives some rock's vast- weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow ; Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.
Page 44 - O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream My great example, as it is my theme! Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull, Strong without rage, without o'er-flowing full.
Page 55 - Memory and her siren daughters, but by devout prayer to that eternal Spirit, who can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out his seraphim, with the hallowed fire of his altar, to touch and purify the lips of whom he pleases.
Page 673 - I rejoice to concur with the common reader ; for by the common sense of readers, uncorrupted with literary prejudices, after all the refinements of subtility and the dogmatism of learning, must be finally decided all claim to poetical honours. The Churchyard 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...
Page 204 - They have not the formality of a settled style, in which the first half of the sentence betrays the other. The clauses are never balanced, nor the periods modelled : every word seems to drop by chance, though it falls into its proper place. Nothing is cold or languid : the whole is airy, animated, and vigorous; what is little, is gay ; what is great, is splendid.
Page 12 - Yet great labour, directed by great abilities, is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth; if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To write on their plan, it was at least necessary to read and think.
Page 557 - His declaration that his care for his works ceased at their publication, was not strictly true. His parental attention never abandoned them ; what he found amiss in the first edition, he silently corrected in those that followed. He appears to have revised the 'Iliad...
Page 5 - Let him for succour sue from place to place, Torn from his subjects, and his son's embrace. First let him see his friends in battle slain, And their untimely fate lament in vain: And when at length the cruel war shall cease, On hard conditions may he buy his peace: Nor let him then enjoy supreme command ; But fall, untimely, by some hostile hand, And lie unburied on the barren sand!
Page 636 - Insatiate Archer! could not one suffice? Thy shaft flew thrice ; and thrice my peace was slain ; And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had fill'd her horn.
Page 522 - A grotto is not often the wish or pleasure of an Englishman, who has more frequent need to solicit than exclude the sun; but Pope's excavation was requisite as an entrance to his garden, and, as some men try to be proud of their defects, he extracted an ornament from an inconvenience, and vanity produced a grotto where necessity enforced a passage.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The works of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Volume 1 The works of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Great Britain |
| Author | Great Britain |
| Published | 1804 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | 21 May 2007 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |