preface biograpical and critical, to the works of the english poets |
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Page 21
Denham saw the better way , but has not perfued it with great success . His
versions of Virgil are not pleasing ; but they taught Dryden to please better . His
poetical imitation of Tully on “ Old Age ” has neither the clearness of prose , nor .
the ...
Denham saw the better way , but has not perfued it with great success . His
versions of Virgil are not pleasing ; but they taught Dryden to please better . His
poetical imitation of Tully on “ Old Age ” has neither the clearness of prose , nor .
the ...
Page 4
The present age is very little inclined . to favour any accounts of this kind , nor will
the name of Aubrey much recommend it to credit : it ought not , however , to be
omitted , because better evidence 1 dence of a fact cannot easily be found than .
4 ...
The present age is very little inclined . to favour any accounts of this kind , nor will
the name of Aubrey much recommend it to credit : it ought not , however , to be
omitted , because better evidence 1 dence of a fact cannot easily be found than .
4 ...
Page 12
... proportion ) that the habit grew upon him , and the series of meditation and
reflection bein kept up whole weeks together , he could better sort his ideas , and
take in the sundry parts of a science at one view , without interruption or confufion
.
... proportion ) that the habit grew upon him , and the series of meditation and
reflection bein kept up whole weeks together , he could better sort his ideas , and
take in the sundry parts of a science at one view , without interruption or confufion
.
Page 33
But he could not well have bequeathed that work to better hands than where , I
hear , it is at present lodged ; and the bare mention of two such names may juftify
the largest expectations , and is fufficient to make the town an agreeable
invitation ...
But he could not well have bequeathed that work to better hands than where , I
hear , it is at present lodged ; and the bare mention of two such names may juftify
the largest expectations , and is fufficient to make the town an agreeable
invitation ...
Page 45
Such scruples might debar him from some profitable employments ; but as they
could not deprive him of any real esteem , they left him many friends ; and no
man was ever better introduced to the theatre than he , who , in that vion lent
conflict ...
Such scruples might debar him from some profitable employments ; but as they
could not deprive him of any real esteem , they left him many friends ; and no
man was ever better introduced to the theatre than he , who , in that vion lent
conflict ...
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Preface Biograpical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets Samuel Johnson No preview available - 2016 |
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Popular passages
Page 14 - 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 62 - James, whose skill in physic will be long remembered, and with David Garrick, whom I hoped to have gratified with this character of our common friend ; but what are the hopes of man ! I am...
Page 24 - 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 62 - His studies had been so various, that I am not able to name a man of equal knowledge. His acquaintance with books was great; and what he did not immediately know, he could at least tell where to find.
Page 18 - The lines are in themselves not perfect, for most of the words thus artfully opposed are to be understood simply on one side of the comparison, and metaphorically on the other ; and if there be any language which does not express intellectual operations by material images, into that language they cannot be translated.
Page 24 - Horace's wit and Virgil's state He did not steal, but emulate, And when he would like them appear, Their garb, but not their clothes, did wear...
Page 1 - Having been compelled by his necessities to contract debts, and hunted, as is supposed, by the terriers of the law, he retired to a publick house on Tower-hill, where he is said to have died of want ; or, as it is related by one of his biographers, by swallowing, after a long fast, a piece of bread which charity had supplied. He went out, as is reported, almost naked, in the rage of hunger, and, finding a gentleman in a neighbouring coffeehouse, asked him for a shilling.
Page 14 - That fervile path thou nobly doft decline, "• Of tracing word by word, and line by line. " Thofe are the labour'd births of...
Bibliographic information
| Title | preface biograpical and critical, to the works of the english poets |
| Author | samuel johnson |
| Published | 1779 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | 31 Jul 2007 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |