The lives of the most eminent English poets (concluded). Miscellaneous livesJ. Buckland, J. Rivington and Sons, T. Payne and Sons, L. Davis, B. White and Son ... [and 36 others in London], 1787 |
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Page 27
... less than fixteen thousand verfes , might have been dispatched in lefs than three hundred and twenty days by fifty verfes in a day . The notes , compiled with the affiftance of his mercenaries , could not be fuppofed to require more ...
... less than fixteen thousand verfes , might have been dispatched in lefs than three hundred and twenty days by fifty verfes in a day . The notes , compiled with the affiftance of his mercenaries , could not be fuppofed to require more ...
Page 59
... less easily to admit new confidence , and the will to grow lefs flexible , and when therefore the departure of an old friend is very acutely felt . In the next year he lost his mother , not by an unex- pected death , for fhe had lafted ...
... less easily to admit new confidence , and the will to grow lefs flexible , and when therefore the departure of an old friend is very acutely felt . In the next year he lost his mother , not by an unex- pected death , for fhe had lafted ...
Page 136
... less pleasure in his works , if he had tried to relieve attention by ftudied difcords , or affected to break his lines and vary his pauses . But though he was thus careful of his verfification , he did not opprefs his powers with ...
... less pleasure in his works , if he had tried to relieve attention by ftudied difcords , or affected to break his lines and vary his pauses . But though he was thus careful of his verfification , he did not opprefs his powers with ...
Page 182
... less than thirty - fix years . In the midft of his facred " labours for the glory of God , and good of his ge- " neration , he is feized with a moft violent and threat- " ening fever , which leaves him oppreffed with great " weakness ...
... less than thirty - fix years . In the midft of his facred " labours for the glory of God , and good of his ge- " neration , he is feized with a moft violent and threat- " ening fever , which leaves him oppreffed with great " weakness ...
Page 188
... less favourable to invention . He writes too often without regular measures , and too often in blank verfe : the rhymes are not always fufficiently correfpondent . He is particularly unhappy in coining names expreffive of characters ...
... less favourable to invention . He writes too often without regular measures , and too often in blank verfe : the rhymes are not always fufficiently correfpondent . He is particularly unhappy in coining names expreffive of characters ...
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Common terms and phrases
Addifon affiftance afterwards againſt almoſt anſwer appears becauſe cenfure character compofition confequence confiderable confidered converfation curiofity defign defire difcovered Drake Dryden Dunciad eafily Effay endeavoured Engliſh fafe faid fame father fatire fays fecond feems fenfe fent fhall fhew fhip fhort fhould firft firſt fome fomething fometimes foon friendſhip ftate ftill ftudies fubject fuccefs fuch fuffered fufficient fuperior fupply fuppofed furely greateſt higheſt himſelf honour houſe Iliad increaſe kindneſs king laft laſt learning leaſt lefs Letters loft Lord Lyttelton maſter mind moft moſt muſt neceffary never Night Thoughts Nombre de Dios obferved occafion paffage paffed paffion perfons perhaps Pindar pinnaces pleafing pleaſed pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry Pope Pope's praife praiſe prefent profe publick publiſhed purpoſe raiſed reafon reft ſeems ſtate ſtudy thefe themſelves theſe thofe Thomſon thoſe thouſand tion tranflation univerfity uſed verfe verfion verſes vifit whofe whoſe write Young
Popular passages
Page 110 - 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 109 - Dryden knew more of man in his general nature, and Pope in his local manners.
Page 276 - The excellence of this work is not exactness, but copiousness ; particular lines are not to be regarded ; the power is in the whole ; and in the whole there is a magnificence like that ascribed to Chinese plantation, the magnificence of vast extent and endless diversity.
Page 308 - 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 206 - He had employed his mind chiefly upon works of fiction, and subjects of fancy; and, by indulging some peculiar habits of thought, was eminently delighted with those flights of imagination which pass the bounds of nature, and to which the mind is reconciled only by a passive acquiescence in popular traditions. He loved fairies, genii, giants, and monsters ; he delighted to rove through the meanders of enchantment, to gaze on the magnificence of golden palaces, to repose by the water-falls of Elysian...
Page 79 - For this reason this joint production of three great writers has never obtained any notice from mankind; it has been little read, or when read has been forgotten, as no man could be wiser, better, or merrier, by remembering it. The design cannot boast of much originality; for, besides its general resemblance to Don Quixote, there will be found in it particular imitations of the History of Mr.
Page 109 - 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 109 - 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. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into inequalities and diversified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe and levelled by the roller.
Page 90 - Club," compared himself to a spider, and by another is described as protuberant behind and before. He is said to have been beautiful in his infancy, but he was of a constitution originally feeble and weak; and, as bodies of a tender frame are easily distorted, his deformity was probably in part the effect of his application. His stature was so low, that to bring him to a level with common tables, it was necessary to raise his seat. But his face was not displeasing...
Page 176 - As a writer he is entitled to one praise of the highest kind: his mode of thinking, and of expressing his thoughts, is original. His blank verse is no more the blank verse of Milton, or of any other poet, than the rhymes of Prior are the rhymes of Cowley.