Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets: With Critical Observations on Their Works, Volume 1 |
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Page v
Many who have hardly a claim to be considered poets were admitted by the
courtesy of criticism into both editions , the right of selection resting , in both
instances oddly enough , with the booksellers , in whose judgment , as men of
trade , the ...
Many who have hardly a claim to be considered poets were admitted by the
courtesy of criticism into both editions , the right of selection resting , in both
instances oddly enough , with the booksellers , in whose judgment , as men of
trade , the ...
Page xvii
His first poem ( * London ' ) was admired by Pope , who dragged it out from a
mass of anonymous , poems by the dunces of the day , and foresaw ( if I may use
his own expression ) the greatness of his young admirer . Johnson considered
the ...
His first poem ( * London ' ) was admired by Pope , who dragged it out from a
mass of anonymous , poems by the dunces of the day , and foresaw ( if I may use
his own expression ) the greatness of his young admirer . Johnson considered
the ...
Page 6
That this comedy was printed during his absence from his country , " he appears
to have considered as injurious to his reputation ; though , during the
suppression of the theatres , it was sometimes privately acted with sufficient
approbation .
That this comedy was printed during his absence from his country , " he appears
to have considered as injurious to his reputation ; though , during the
suppression of the theatres , it was sometimes privately acted with sufficient
approbation .
Page 9
This expression from a secretary of the present time would be considered as
merely ludicrous , or at most as an ostentatious display of scholarship ; but the
manners of that time were so tinged with superstition , that I cannot but suspect
Cowley ...
This expression from a secretary of the present time would be considered as
merely ludicrous , or at most as an ostentatious display of scholarship ; but the
manners of that time were so tinged with superstition , that I cannot but suspect
Cowley ...
Page 14
It appears , however , from the Theatrical Register of Downes the prompter , to
have been popularly considered as a satire on the royalists . 23 That he might
shorten this tedious suspense , he published his pretensions and his discontent
in an ...
It appears , however , from the Theatrical Register of Downes the prompter , to
have been popularly considered as a satire on the royalists . 23 That he might
shorten this tedious suspense , he published his pretensions and his discontent
in an ...
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Popular passages
Page 341 - All the images of nature were still present to him, and he drew them not laboriously, but luckily; when he describes anything, you more than see it, you feel it too. Those who accuse him to have wanted learning* give him the greater commendation: he was naturally learned; he needed not the spectacles of books to read nature; he looked inwards, and found her there.
Page 364 - From harmony, from heavenly harmony This universal frame began : From harmony to harmony Through all the compass of the notes it ran, The diapason closing full in Man.
Page 141 - Nothing can less display knowledge, or less exercise invention, than to tell how a shepherd has lost his companion, and must now feed his flocks alone, without any judge of his skill in piping ; and how one god asks another god what is become of Lycidas, and how neither god can tell. He who thus grieves will excite no sympathy ; he who thus praises will confer no honour.
Page 21 - To write on their plan it was, at least, necessary to read and think. No man could be born a metaphysical poet, nor assume the dignity of a writer, by descriptions copied from descriptions, by imitations borrowed from imitations, by traditional imagery, and hereditary similes, by readiness of rhyme, and volubility of syllables n.
Page 162 - How charming is divine Philosophy! Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose, But musical as is Apollo's lute, And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets, Where no crude surfeit reigns.
Page 74 - O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream My great example, as it is my theme! Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull, Strong without rage, without o'er-flowing full.
Page 380 - I am as free as Nature first made man, ^) Ere the base laws of servitude began, > When wild in woods the noble savage ran.
Page 364 - From harmony, from heavenly harmony, '• This universal frame began : ' When Nature underneath a heap of jarring atoms lay, And could not heave her head, ••;.-'• The timeful voice was heard from high. Arise ye more than dead.
Page 76 - 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 cloaths, did wear.
Page xiv - If a life be delayed till interest and envy are at an end, we may hope for impartiality, but must expect little intelligence; for the incidents which give excellence to biography are of a volatile and evanescent kind, such as soon escape the memory, and are rarely transmitted by tradition.
Bibliographic information
| Title | Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets: With Critical Observations on Their Works, Volume 1 Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets: With Critical Observations on Their Works, Peter Cunningham |
| Author | Samuel Johnson |
| Editor | Peter Cunningham |
| Publisher | J. Murray, 1854 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | 8 Sep 2007 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |