preface biograpical and critical, to the works of the english poets1779 |
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Page 2
... genius born to improve the literature of his .country . When he was , three years afterwards , removed to Lincoln's Inn , he profe- cuted the common law with fufficient appearance of application ; yet did not lofe lofe his propenfity to ...
... genius born to improve the literature of his .country . When he was , three years afterwards , removed to Lincoln's Inn , he profe- cuted the common law with fufficient appearance of application ; yet did not lofe lofe his propenfity to ...
Page 20
... lified not only by critical knowledge , but by poetical genius , who yet , by a miftaken ambition of exactness , de- graded at once their originals and them- felves . Den- Denham faw the better way , but has not perfued 20 ' DEN HA M.
... lified not only by critical knowledge , but by poetical genius , who yet , by a miftaken ambition of exactness , de- graded at once their originals and them- felves . Den- Denham faw the better way , but has not perfued 20 ' DEN HA M.
Page 2
... genius of that excellent poet who made this way of writing free of our nation , and being fo little equal and proportioned to the renown of the prince on whom they were written ; fuch great actions and lives deferving to be the subject ...
... genius of that excellent poet who made this way of writing free of our nation , and being fo little equal and proportioned to the renown of the prince on whom they were written ; fuch great actions and lives deferving to be the subject ...
Page 15
... genius feems to have wanted fire to " attain the point of perfection ; but " who can attain it ? ” From this account of the riches of his mind , who would not imagine that they had been difplayed in large vo- lumes and numerous ...
... genius feems to have wanted fire to " attain the point of perfection ; but " who can attain it ? ” From this account of the riches of his mind , who would not imagine that they had been difplayed in large vo- lumes and numerous ...
Page 8
... genius has bestowed . Wood and Burnet give us reafon to believe , that much was imputed to him which he did not write . I know not by whom the original collection was made , or by what authority its genuineness was afcertained . The ...
... genius has bestowed . Wood and Burnet give us reafon to believe , that much was imputed to him which he did not write . I know not by whom the original collection was made , or by what authority its genuineness was afcertained . The ...
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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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Addifon admire afterwards againſt becauſe Caen College commiffion compofition Cowley critick Daniel Burgess death deferved defign defired Dryden duke eafily earl Effay elegance expreffed faid fame fatire favour fays feems fenfe fent fentence fentiment feven feveral fhall fhew fhould fince finiſhed firft firſt fome fometimes foon friends friendſhip ftill ftudies fubject fuch fufficient fuppofed fure genius greateſt Hiftory himſelf honour houfe houſe imitation intereft judgement king Lady Jane Grey laft leaft leaſt lefs lord mafter moft moſt muſt neceffary NIHIL eft numbers obferved occafion Otway paffages paffed perfon Philips pleafed pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetry Pope praife praiſe prefent preferved profe publick publiſhed purpoſe queen Anne racter raiſed reaſonable Rofcommon ſcholar ſchool ſeems Smith Splendid Shilling Stepney ſtudy thefe themſelves theſe thofe thoſe thought tion tranflated underſtanding univerfity uſe verfe verfion verſes Virgil Wadham College whofe whoſe writings wrote Yalden
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 52 - 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 52 - 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 5 - I never heard of the man in my life, yet I find your name as a subscriber. He is too grave a poet for me; and I think among the Mediocrists, in prose as well as verse.
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 11 - 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...