The Lives of the English Poets, Volume 2J.F. Dove, and sold by all the booksellers in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1826 - English poetry - 420 pages |
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Page 26
... allowed its Author the privilege of the house . Few plays have ever been so beneficial to the writer ; for it procured him the patronage of Halifax , who immediately made him one of the commissioners for licensing coaches , and soon ...
... allowed its Author the privilege of the house . Few plays have ever been so beneficial to the writer ; for it procured him the patronage of Halifax , who immediately made him one of the commissioners for licensing coaches , and soon ...
Page 48
... allowed to be difficult ; but Blackmore not only reasons in verse , but very often rea- sons poetically , and finds the art of uniting ornament with strength , and ease with closeness . This is a skill which Pope might have condescended ...
... allowed to be difficult ; but Blackmore not only reasons in verse , but very often rea- sons poetically , and finds the art of uniting ornament with strength , and ease with closeness . This is a skill which Pope might have condescended ...
Page 64
... allowed all that it claims ; it is sprightly , various , and pleasant . The subject is of that kind which Gay was by nature qualified to adorn ; yet some of his decorations may be justly wished away . An honest blacksmith might have ...
... allowed all that it claims ; it is sprightly , various , and pleasant . The subject is of that kind which Gay was by nature qualified to adorn ; yet some of his decorations may be justly wished away . An honest blacksmith might have ...
Page 71
... allowed . But by a critic of a later generation , who takes up his book without any favourable prejudices , the praise already received will be thought sufficient ; for his works do not shew him to have had much comprehension from ...
... allowed . But by a critic of a later generation , who takes up his book without any favourable prejudices , the praise already received will be thought sufficient ; for his works do not shew him to have had much comprehension from ...
Page 83
... allowed to have set a good example to men of his own class , by devoting part of his time to elegant knowledge ; and who has shewn , by the subjects which his poetry has adorned , that it is practicable to be at once a skilful sportsman ...
... allowed to have set a good example to men of his own class , by devoting part of his time to elegant knowledge ; and who has shewn , by the subjects which his poetry has adorned , that it is practicable to be at once a skilful sportsman ...
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Common terms and phrases
Aaron Hill acquaintance Addison afterward appeared blank verse Bolingbroke censure character Cibber contempt criticism death delight diction diligence discovered Dryden Duke Dunciad Earl edition Edward Young elegance endeavoured epitaph Essay excellence faults favour Fenton fortune friends friendship genius happy honour Iliad imagination kind King known labour Lady learning letter lines lived Lord Lord Bolingbroke Lord Halifax Lyttelton mentioned mind nature never Night Thoughts numbers observed occasion once Orrery panegyric passion performance perhaps Pindar pleased pleasure poem poet poetical poetry Pope Pope's pounds praise present printed published Queen racter reader reason received reputation rhyme satire Savage says seems sent shew shewn Sir Robert Walpole solicited sometimes soon stanza sufficient supposed Swift Tatler thing Thomson Tickell tion told tragedy translation Tyrconnel verses virtue whigs write written wrote Young
Popular passages
Page 274 - 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 274 - In acquired knowledge, the superiority must be allowed to Dryden, whose education was more scholastic, and who before he became an author had been allowed more time for study, with better means of information. His mind has a larger range, and he collects his images and illustrations from a more extensive circumference of science. Dryden knew more of man in his general nature, and Pope in his local manners.
Page 404 - Church-yard' abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo.
Page 275 - Pope had only a little, because Dryden had more; for every other writer since Milton must give place to Pope ; and even of Dryden it must be said, that if he has brighter paragraphs, he has not better poems.
Page 275 - If the flights of Dryden therefore are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight.
Page 404 - 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 289 - Pope had, in proportions very nicely adjusted to each other, all the qualities that constitute genius. He had Invention, by which new trains of events are formed, and new scenes of imagery displayed, as in the Rape of the Lock; and by which extrinsick and adventitious embellishments and illustrations are connected with a known subject, as in the Essay on Criticism...
Page 216 - Iliad. It is certainly the noblest version of poetry which the world has ever seen ; and its publication must therefore be considered as one of the great events in the annals of Learning.
Page 166 - And to urge another argument of a parallel nature: if Christianity were once abolished, how could the free-thinkers, the strong reasoners, and the men of profound learning, be able to find another subject so calculated in all points whereon to display their abilities? What wonderful productions of wit should we be deprived of, from those whose genius by continual practice hath been wholly turned upon raillery and invectives against religion, and would therefore never be able to shine or distinguish...
Page 409 - you shall be my confessor ; when I first set out in the world, I had friends who endeavoured to shake my belief in the Christian religion. I saw difficulties which staggered me ; but I kept my mind open to conviction. The evidences and doctrines of Christianity, studied with attention, made me a most firm and persuaded believer of the Christian religion. I have made it the rule of my life, and it is the ground of my future hopes.