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Page 31
... less bloody , and the sword and dagger more out of fashion . To make fome amends for this ex- clufion , I would be lefs fevere as to the rigour of fome other laws enacted by the mafters , though it is always advisable to keep as clofe ...
... less bloody , and the sword and dagger more out of fashion . To make fome amends for this ex- clufion , I would be lefs fevere as to the rigour of fome other laws enacted by the mafters , though it is always advisable to keep as clofe ...
Page 27
... less easy for the spectator to fuppofe himself at Athens in the fecond act than at Thebes in the firft ; but to change the scene , as is done by Rowe in the middle of an act , is to add more acts to the play , fince an act is fo much of ...
... less easy for the spectator to fuppofe himself at Athens in the fecond act than at Thebes in the firft ; but to change the scene , as is done by Rowe in the middle of an act , is to add more acts to the play , fince an act is fo much of ...
Page 22
... less than adoration pay . Such were the Roman Fathers , when , o'ercome , They faw the Gauls infult o'er conquer'd Rome ; Each captive feem'd the haughty victor's lord , And proftrate chiefs their awful flaves ador'd , The Picture ...
... less than adoration pay . Such were the Roman Fathers , when , o'ercome , They faw the Gauls infult o'er conquer'd Rome ; Each captive feem'd the haughty victor's lord , And proftrate chiefs their awful flaves ador'd , The Picture ...
Page 14
... less formidable rivals ; and it would be not easy to name any other compofition produced by that event which is now remembered . ! Every thing has its day . Through the reigns of William and Anne no profpe- rous event paffed undignified ...
... less formidable rivals ; and it would be not easy to name any other compofition produced by that event which is now remembered . ! Every thing has its day . Through the reigns of William and Anne no profpe- rous event paffed undignified ...
Page 45
... less emo- tion . Some of them , however , are preserved by their inherent excellence . The burlesque of Boileau's Ode on Na- mur has , in fome parts , fuch airinefs and levity as will always procure it readers , even among those who ...
... less emo- tion . Some of them , however , are preserved by their inherent excellence . The burlesque of Boileau's Ode on Na- mur has , in fome parts , fuch airinefs and levity as will always procure it readers , even among those who ...
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Common terms and phrases
Addifon afterwards againſt anfwers Battle of Ramillies becauſe beft beſt cenfure character charms chofen comedy confift Congreve converfation defire delight Dryden earl earl of Oxford elegant Engliſh epigram eyes faid fame fcene fecretary feems feen feldom felf fent fentiments Fenton fhall fhew fhine fhould fight fing firft firſt flain fome fometimes fong foon ftage ftill fubject fuccefs fuch fuffered fufficient fupply fuppofed fure grace Granville himſelf honour houſe Iliad king laft leaſt lefs lived lord Love Love for Love minifters moft moſt Mufe muſt nature numbers o'er obferved occafion Oxford paffed Peleus perfon play pleafing pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetry Pope praife praiſe prefent Prior profe profpect publick publiſhed Queen Queen's College racter raiſe reafon Rhodogune Rowe ſcene ſeems ſome ſtage ſtate ſtill Tamerlane thefe theſe thofe thoſe Thou thought Tickell tion tranflation uſed verfe verſe Whigs Whilft whofe write written
Popular passages
Page 24 - His scenes exhibit not much of humour, imagery, or passion : his personages are a kind of intellectual gladiators ; every sentence is to ward or strike ; the contest of smartness is never intermitted ; his wit is a meteor playing to and fro with alternate coruscations.
Page 27 - And terror on my aching sight; the tombs And monumental caves of death look cold, And shoot a dullness to my trembling heart. Give me thy hand, and let me hear thy voice; Nay, quickly speak to me, and let me hear Thy voice — my own affrights me with its echoes.
Page 16 - The cause of Congreve was not tenable; whatever glosses he might use for the defence or palliation of single passages, the general tenour and tendency of his plays must always be condemned. It is acknowledged, with universal conviction, that the perusal of his works will make no man better ; and that their ultimate effect is to represent pleasure in alliance with vice, and to relax those obligations by which life ought to be regulated.
Page 26 - Whistling thro' hollows of this vaulted isle: We'll listen— LEONORA. Hark! ALMERIA. No, all is hush'd, and still as death. — Tis dreadful! How reverend is the face of this tall pile; Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads, To bear aloft its arch'd and pond'rous roof, By its own weight made stedfast and immoveable, Looking tranquillity!
Page 27 - He who reads these lines enjoys for a moment the powers of a poet ; he feels what he remembers to have felt before ; but he feels it with great increase of sensibility ; he recognizes a familiar image, but meets it again amplified and expanded, embellished with -beauty and enlarged with majesty.
Page 4 - ... excelled his original in the moral effect of the fiction. Lothario, with gaiety which cannot be hated, and bravery which cannot be despised, retains too much of the spectator's kindness. It was in the power of Richardson alone to teach us at once esteem and detestation, to make virtuous resentment overpower all the benevolence which wit, and elegance, and courage, naturally excite; and to lose at last the hero in the villain.
Page 53 - All I can say for those passages, which are, I hope, not many, is, that I knew they were bad enough to please, even when I writ them...
Page 13 - ... and with all those powers exalted and invigorated by just confidence in his cause. Thus qualified, and thus incited, he walked out to battle, and assailed at once most of the living writers, from Dryden to D'Urfey.
Page 23 - ... accumulation of attentive parsimony, which, though to her superfluous and useless, might have given great assistance to the ancient family from which he descended, at that time by the imprudence of his relation reduced to difficulties and distress.
Page 14 - His onset was violent; those passages, which, while they stood single, had passed with little notice, when they were accumulated and exposed together, excited horror. The wise and the pious caught the alarm, and the nation wondered why it had so long suffered irreligion and licentiousness to be openly taught at the public charge.