The Lives of the English Poets: cowley. Denham. Milton. Butler. Rochester. Roscommon. Otway. Waller. Pomfret. Dorset. Stepney. J. Philips. Walsh. Dryden. Smith. Duke. King. Sprat. Halifax. Parnell. Garth. Rowe. Addison. Hughes. SheffieldB. Tauchnitz, 1858 - English poetry |
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Page 2
... though it was not published till he had been some time at Cambridge . This comedy its of the pastoral kind , which requires no acquaintance with the living world , and therefore the time at which it was composed adds 2 COWLEY .
... though it was not published till he had been some time at Cambridge . This comedy its of the pastoral kind , which requires no acquaintance with the living world , and therefore the time at which it was composed adds 2 COWLEY .
Page 12
... kind the meta- physical poets have seldom risen . Their thoughts are often new , but seldom natural ; they are not obvious , but neither are they just ; and the reader , far from wondering that he missed them , wonders more frequently ...
... kind the meta- physical poets have seldom risen . Their thoughts are often new , but seldom natural ; they are not obvious , but neither are they just ; and the reader , far from wondering that he missed them , wonders more frequently ...
Page 14
... kind of writing , which was , I believe , borrowed from Marino and his followers , had been recommended by the example of Donne , a man of very extensive and various know- ledge ; and by Jonson , whose manner resembled that of Donne ...
... kind of writing , which was , I believe , borrowed from Marino and his followers , had been recommended by the example of Donne , a man of very extensive and various know- ledge ; and by Jonson , whose manner resembled that of Donne ...
Page 28
... kind than any other of Cowley's works . The diction shews nothing of the mould of time , and the sentiments are at no great distance from our present habitudes of thought . Real mirth must always be natural , and nature is uniform . Men ...
... kind than any other of Cowley's works . The diction shews nothing of the mould of time , and the sentiments are at no great distance from our present habitudes of thought . Real mirth must always be natural , and nature is uniform . Men ...
Page 29
... kind of writing more than for another , his power seems to have been greatest in the familiar and the festive . The next class of his poems is called The Mistress , of which it is not necessary to select any particular pieces for praise ...
... kind of writing more than for another , his power seems to have been greatest in the familiar and the festive . The next class of his poems is called The Mistress , of which it is not necessary to select any particular pieces for praise ...
Common terms and phrases
Absalom and Achitophel Addison admiration afterwards Almanzor ancients appears beauties better blank verse censure character Charles Dryden compositions considered Cowley criticism death delight diction diligence dramatic Dryden Duke Earl elegance English English poetry Euripides excellence fancy faults favour friends genius Georgics heroic honour Hudibras images imagination imitation Jacob Tonson John Dryden Johnson's Lives Juvenal kind King knew known labour Lady language Latin learning lines Lord Lord Conway Milton mind nature never NIHIL numbers opinion Paradise Lost parliament passions perhaps Philips Pindar play pleasing pleasure poem poet poetical poetry Pope pounds praise produced published reader reason relates remarks reputation rhyme satire says seems sentiments shew shewn sometimes Sprat supposed Syphax thee thing thou thought tion told tragedy translation truth verses versification Virgil virtue Waller Westminster Abbey words write written wrote
Popular passages
Page 64 - Memory and her siren daughters, but by devout prayer to that Eternal Spirit who can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out his Seraphim with the hallowed fire of his altar, to touch and purify the lips of whom he pleases.
Page 98 - In this poem there is no nature, for there is no truth; there / is no art, for there is nothing new. Its form is that of a pastoral; easy, vulgar, and therefore disgusting, whatever images it can supply are long ago exhausted; and its inherent improbability always forces dissatisfaction on the mind.
Page 49 - 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 25 - 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' other foot, obliquely run; Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun.
Page 61 - Let not our veneration for Milton forbid us to look with some degree of merriment on great promises and small performance, on the man who hastens home, because his countrymen are contending for their liberty, and, when he reaches the scene of action, vapours away his patriotism in a private boarding-school.
Page 387 - Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison.
Page 252 - ... vigorous; what is little is gay, what is great is splendid. He may be thought to mention himself too frequently; but while he forces himself upon our esteem, we cannot refuse him to stand high in his own.
Page 268 - Grand Chorus As from the power of sacred lays The spheres began to move, And sung the great Creator's praise To all the blest above; So when the last and dreadful hour This crumbling pageant shall devour, The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die, And Music shall untune the sky.
Page 80 - Lost, could descend from his elevation to rescue children from the perplexity of grammatical confusion, and the trouble of lessons unnecessarily repeated. About this time Elwood the quaker, being recommended to him as one who would read Latin to him, for the advantage of his conversation; attended him every afternoon, except on Sundays. Milton, who, in his letter to Hartlib, had declared, that to read Latin with an English mouth is as ill a hearing as Law French...
Page 50 - 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.