Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets: Milton. ButlerJ. Nichols, 1779 - English poetry |
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Page 28
... education in his imaginary Col- lege . But the truth is , that the knowledge of external nature , and of the sciences which that knowledge requires or in- cludes , is not which 28 MILTON . ference, and to rectify abfurd mifap- ...
... education in his imaginary Col- lege . But the truth is , that the knowledge of external nature , and of the sciences which that knowledge requires or in- cludes , is not which 28 MILTON . ference, and to rectify abfurd mifap- ...
Page 29
... truth , and prove by events the reasonable- nefs of opinions . Prudence and juftice are virtues , and excellencies , of all times , and of all places ; we are perpetually moralifts , but we are geometricians only by chance . Our ...
... truth , and prove by events the reasonable- nefs of opinions . Prudence and juftice are virtues , and excellencies , of all times , and of all places ; we are perpetually moralifts , but we are geometricians only by chance . Our ...
Page 30
... truth , and moft materials for converfa- tion ; and thefe purposes are beft ferved by poets , orators , and historians . Let me not be cenfured for this di- greffion as pedantick or paradoxical ; for if I have Milton against me , I have ...
... truth , and moft materials for converfa- tion ; and thefe purposes are beft ferved by poets , orators , and historians . Let me not be cenfured for this di- greffion as pedantick or paradoxical ; for if I have Milton against me , I have ...
Page 43
... truth . His wife and her relations now found that Milton was not an unrefifting fuf- ferer of injuries ; and perceiving that he had begun to put his doctrine in prac- tice , by courting a young woman of great accomplishments , the ...
... truth . His wife and her relations now found that Milton was not an unrefifting fuf- ferer of injuries ; and perceiving that he had begun to put his doctrine in prac- tice , by courting a young woman of great accomplishments , the ...
Page 45
... truth ; if every dreamer of innovations may propagate his projects , there can be no fettlement ; if every murmurer at government may diffufe difcontent , there can be no peace ; and if every fceptick in theology may teach his follies ...
... truth ; if every dreamer of innovations may propagate his projects , there can be no fettlement ; if every murmurer at government may diffufe difcontent , there can be no peace ; and if every fceptick in theology may teach his follies ...
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Common terms and phrases
Adam againſt anfwer angels becauſe Butler cenfure Chorus Comus Confcience confidered curiofity daugh daughter defcended defign defire delight diction diſcover eafily Engliſh epick poem Euripides exercifes fafe faid fame fatire fays fchool fecretary feems fent fentiments feven fhew fhort fhould fince firft firſt fome fomething fometimes fpirits ftate ftill ftudies fubject fuch fuffered fufficiently fufpected fupplied fuppofed fure heroick himſelf houfe houſe Hudibras images inftruction JOHN MILTON Juftice kindneſs king labour laft laſt Latin learning lefs Lycidas ment Milton mind moft moſt mufick muft muſt neceffary never numbers obfervation occafion opinion paffions Paradife Loft perfons perhaps philofophy pleaſe pleaſure poet poetry poffible praiſe prefent profe promife publick publiſhed puniſh purpoſe queftion racter raiſed reaſon refidence regicides reprefented rhyme Salmafius ſcenes ſeem ſtate ſtudy themſelves theſe thofe thoſe thought tion underſtand univerfity uſe verfe vifited whofe write
Popular passages
Page 146 - Milton's morals as well as his poetry, the invitations to pleasure are so general, that they excite no distinct images of corrupt enjoyment, and take no dangerous hold on the fancy.
Page 203 - From his contemporaries he neither courted nor received support : There is in his writings nothing by which the pride of other authors might be gratified, or favour gained ; no exchange of praise, nor solicitation of support.
Page 120 - 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 199 - ... 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 critick, seems to be verse only to the eye.
Page 17 - ... 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 203 - ... he neither courted nor received support : There is in his writings nothing by which the pride of other authors might be gratified, or favour gained ; no exchange of praise, nor solicitation of support. His great works were performed under discountenance, and in blindness ; but difficulties vanished at his touch ; he was born for whatever is arduous ; and his work is not the greatest of heroic poems, only because it is not the first.
Page 136 - 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 123 - He hated monarchs in the state, and prelates in the church; for he hated all whom he was required to obey. It is to be suspected, that his predominant desire was to destroy, rather than establish, and that he felt not so much the love of liberty, as repugnance to authority.
Page 153 - Milton must be confessed to have equalled every other poet. He has involved in his account of the Fall of Man the events...
Page 152 - Bossu is of opinion, that the poet's first work is to find a moral, which his fable is afterwards to illustrate and establish.