The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets;: Cowley. Denham. Milton. Butler. Rochester. Roscommon. Otway. Waller. Pomfret. Dorset. Stepney. Philips. WalshC. Bathurst, J. Buckland, W. Strahan, J. Rivington and Sons, T. Davies, T. Payne, L. Davis, W. Owen, B. White, S. Crowder, T. Caslon, T. Longman, ... [and 24 others], 1781 - English poetry - 503 pages |
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Page 26
... better man behind him in England . " He is reprefented by Dr. Sprat as the most ami- able of mankind ; and this pofthumous praise may be fafely credited , as it has never been contradicted by envy or by faction . Such are the remarks ...
... better man behind him in England . " He is reprefented by Dr. Sprat as the most ami- able of mankind ; and this pofthumous praise may be fafely credited , as it has never been contradicted by envy or by faction . Such are the remarks ...
Page 27
... , instead of writing poe- try , they only wrote verfes , and very often fuch verfes as ftood the trial of the finger better than of the ear ; for the modulation was was so imperfect , that they were only found to COWL E Y. 27.
... , instead of writing poe- try , they only wrote verfes , and very often fuch verfes as ftood the trial of the finger better than of the ear ; for the modulation was was so imperfect , that they were only found to COWL E Y. 27.
Page 54
... better taste ; If it take air before , its fpirits waste . To the following comparison of a man that travels , and his wife that stays at home , with a pair of compaffes , it may be doubted whe- ther abfurdity or ingenuity has the better ...
... better taste ; If it take air before , its fpirits waste . To the following comparison of a man that travels , and his wife that stays at home , with a pair of compaffes , it may be doubted whe- ther abfurdity or ingenuity has the better ...
Page 117
... better way , but has not pursued it with great fuccefs . His verfions of Virgil are not pleafing ; but they taught Dryden to please better . His poetical imi- tation of Tully on " Old Age " has neither the clearness of profe , nor the ...
... better way , but has not pursued it with great fuccefs . His verfions of Virgil are not pleafing ; but they taught Dryden to please better . His poetical imi- tation of Tully on " Old Age " has neither the clearness of profe , nor the ...
Page 119
... better practice , as he gains more confidence in himself . In his tranflation of Virgil , written when he was about twenty - one years old , may be ftill found the old manner of continuing the fenfe ungracefully from verfe to verse . 66 ...
... better practice , as he gains more confidence in himself . In his tranflation of Virgil , written when he was about twenty - one years old , may be ftill found the old manner of continuing the fenfe ungracefully from verfe to verse . 66 ...
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Common terms and phrases
againſt almoſt Anacreon anſwered appears becauſe beſt cenfured compofitions confidered Cowley criticiſm defcription defign defire diction diſcover Dryden Earl eaſily elegance Engliſh expreffion fafe faid fame fatire fays fecond feems feldom fent fentiments fhall fhew fince firft firſt fome fomething fometimes foon ftill ftudies fubject fuch fufficiently fupply fuppofed greateſt heroick himſelf hiſtory houſe Hudibras images itſelf kindneſs King known laft laſt Latin learning leaſt lefs Lord Lord Conway meaſure Milton mind moft moſt muft muſt nature neceffary never NIHIL numbers obferved occafion paffage paffion Paradife Loft perfon perhaps Philips Pindar pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry praife praiſe prefent preferved profe publick publiſhed purpoſe raiſe reaſon reprefented rhyme ſeems ſhe ſhould ſome ſtate ſtill ſtudy ſtyle ſuch thefe themſelves theſe thing thofe thoſe thou thought thouſand tion tranflation underſtanding univerfal uſed verfe verfification verſes Waller whofe whoſe write
Popular passages
Page 255 - Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure.
Page 32 - Yet great labour, directed by great abilities, is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth; if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To write on their plan it was at least necessary to read and think.
Page 215 - To be of no Church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by Faith and Hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind, unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
Page 27 - Wit, like all other things subject by their nature to the choice of man, has its changes and fashions, and at different times takes different forms. About the beginning of the seventeenth century appeared a race of writers that may be termed the metaphysical poets; of whom, in a criticism on the works of Cowley, it is not improper to give some account.
Page 246 - Milton's delight was to sport in the wide regions of possibility; reality was a scene too narrow for his mind. He sent his faculties out upon discovery into worlds where only imagination can travel, and delighted to form new modes of existence and furnish sentiment and action to superior beings, to trace the counsels of hell or accompany the choirs of heaven.
Page 224 - 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 40 - On a round ball A workman, that hath copies by, can lay An Europe, Afric, and an Asia, And quickly make that, which was nothing, all. So doth each tear, Which thee doth wear, A globe, yea world, by that impression grow, Till thy tears mixt with mine do overflow This world, by waters sent from thee my heaven dissolved so.
Page 31 - Those writers who lay on the watch for novelty could have little hope of greatness; for great things cannot have escaped former observation.
Page 40 - Though God be our true glass, through which we see All, since the being of all things is He, Yet are the trunks, which do to us derive Things, in proportion fit, by perspective Deeds of good men ; for by their living here, Virtues, indeed remote, seem to be near.
Page 266 - ... and preserved by the artifice of rhyme. The variety of pauses, so much boasted by the lovers of blank verse, changes the measures of an English poet to the periods of a declaimer ; and there are only a few skilful and happy readers of Milton, who enable their audience to perceive where the lines end or begin. Blank verse, said an ingenious critic, seems to be verse only to the eye.