The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets;: With Critical Observations on Their Works, Volume 1C. 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, B. Law, C. Dilly, J. Dodsley, J. Wilkie, J. Robson, J. Johnson, T. Lowndes, G. Robinson, T. Cadell, J. Nichols, E. Newbery, T. Evans, P. Elmsly, R. Baldwin, G. Nicol, Leigh and Sotheby, J. Bew, N. Conant, W. Nicoll, J. Murray, S. Hayes, W. Fox, and J. Bowen., 1783 - English poetry |
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Page 1
... written by Dr. Sprat , an author whose pregnancy of imagination and elegance of language have deservedly fet him high in the ranks of literature ; but his zeal of friend- fhip , or ambition of eloquence , has produced a funeral oration ...
... written by Dr. Sprat , an author whose pregnancy of imagination and elegance of language have deservedly fet him high in the ranks of literature ; but his zeal of friend- fhip , or ambition of eloquence , has produced a funeral oration ...
Page 4
... written but printed in his thirteenth year ; contain- ing , with other poetical compofitions , " The tragical History of Pyramus and Thisbe , ” written when he was ten years old ; and " Conftantia and Philetus , " written two years ...
... written but printed in his thirteenth year ; contain- ing , with other poetical compofitions , " The tragical History of Pyramus and Thisbe , ” written when he was ten years old ; and " Conftantia and Philetus , " written two years ...
Page 5
... written , while he was yet a young ftudent , the greater part of his Davideis ; a work of which the materials could not have been collected with- out the study of many years , but by a mind of the greatest vigour and activity . Two ...
... written , while he was yet a young ftudent , the greater part of his Davideis ; a work of which the materials could not have been collected with- out the study of many years , but by a mind of the greatest vigour and activity . Two ...
Page 6
... written nor acted , but rough - drawn by him , and re- peated by the scholars . That this comedy was printed during his abfence from his coun- try , he appears to have confidered as inju- rious to his reputation ; though , during the ...
... written nor acted , but rough - drawn by him , and re- peated by the scholars . That this comedy was printed during his abfence from his coun- try , he appears to have confidered as inju- rious to his reputation ; though , during the ...
Page 10
... written like those of other men whofe mind is more on things than words , contribute no otherwife to his repu- tation than as they fhew him to have been above the affectation of unfeasonable elegance , and to have known that the ...
... written like those of other men whofe mind is more on things than words , contribute no otherwife to his repu- tation than as they fhew him to have been above the affectation of unfeasonable elegance , and to have known that the ...
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Common terms and phrases
againſt almoſt anſwer appears becauſe cauſe cenfured compofitions confidered Cowley daugh deferve defign defire diſcovered Dryden eafily Earl elegance Engliſh fafe faid fame fatire fays fecond feems fent fentiments fhall fhew fhould fince firft firſt fome fomething fometimes foon ftill ftudies ftyle fubject fuch fufficiently fupply fuppofed greateſt Hiftory higheſt himſelf houſe Hudibras images itſelf kindneſs King known laft laſt Latin learning leaſt lefs Lord Lord Conway maſter meaſure Milton mind moft moſt muft muſt nature neceffary never NIHIL numbers obferved occafion paffage paffed paffion Paradife Loft perfon perhaps Philips Pindar pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry praiſe prefent profe publick publiſhed purpoſe raiſe reader reafon repreſented rhyme ſeems ſhe ſkill ſome ſtate ſtill ſtudy ſtyle ſuch ſuppoſed thefe themſelves theſe thing thofe thoſe thou thought thouſand tion tranflation underſtanding univerfally uſe verfe verfification verſes Waller whofe whoſe write
Popular passages
Page 109 - Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; Willing to wound and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike; Alike...
Page 52 - To move, but doth if th' other do. And though it in the centre sit, Yet, when the other far doth roam, It leans and hearkens after it, And grows erect as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must Like th
Page 246 - Lost' has this inconvenience, that it comprises neither human actions nor human manners. The man and woman who act and suffer are in a state which no other man or woman can ever know. The reader finds no transaction in which he can be engaged ; beholds no condition in which he can by any effort of imagination place himself; he has, therefore, little natural curiosity or sympathy.
Page 29 - Their attempts were always analytick: they broke every image into fragments, and could no more represent by their slender conceits and laboured particularities the prospects of...
Page 251 - The confusion of spirit and matter, which pervades the whole narration of the war of Heaven, fills it with incongruity; and the book in which it is related is, I believe, the favourite of children, and gradually neglected as knowledge is increased.
Page 82 - Wash'd from the morning beauties' deepest red ; An harmless flatt'ring meteor shone for hair, And fell adown his shoulders with loose care ; He cuts out a silk mantle from the skies, Where the most sprightly azure...
Page 249 - Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure.
Page 28 - Nor was the sublime more within their reach than the pathetic; for they never attempted that comprehension and expanse of thought which at once fills the whole mind, and of which the first effect is sudden astonishment, and the second rational admiration.
Page 28 - As they were wholly employed on something unexpected and surprising, they had no regard to that uniformity of sentiment which enables us to conceive and to excite the pains and the pleasure of other minds...
Page 256 - Regained has been too much depreciated, Samson Agonistes has in requital been too much admired. It could only be by long prejudice, and the bigotry of learning, that Milton could prefer the ancient tragedies, with their encumbrance of a chorus, to the exhibitions of the French and English stages...