The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: The lives of the most eminent English poetsJ. Buckland [and 40 others], 1787 - English literature |
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Page 18
... levelled as it seems , against Prynne's book , " The Unloveliness of Love - locks , " may be feen in the City Match , a comedy by Dr. Jafper Mayne , Act II . the the melancholy Cowley . This met with the ufual for- 18 COWLEY .
... levelled as it seems , against Prynne's book , " The Unloveliness of Love - locks , " may be feen in the City Match , a comedy by Dr. Jafper Mayne , Act II . the the melancholy Cowley . This met with the ufual for- 18 COWLEY .
Page 43
... against Reason , are no mean fpecimens of metaphyfical poetry . The ftanzas against knowledge produce little conviction . In thofe which are intended to exalt the human faculties , Reason has its proper task affigned it ; that of ...
... against Reason , are no mean fpecimens of metaphyfical poetry . The ftanzas against knowledge produce little conviction . In thofe which are intended to exalt the human faculties , Reason has its proper task affigned it ; that of ...
Page 57
... against Eneas , he fixes the attention on its bulk and weight : Saxum circumfpicit ingens , Saxum antiquum , ingens , campo quod forte jacebat Limes agro pofitus , litem ut difcerneret arvis . Cowley fays of the ftone with which Cain ...
... against Eneas , he fixes the attention on its bulk and weight : Saxum circumfpicit ingens , Saxum antiquum , ingens , campo quod forte jacebat Limes agro pofitus , litem ut difcerneret arvis . Cowley fays of the ftone with which Cain ...
Page 75
... against peace in the clofe " Committee " be excepted . For grave burlesque , however , his imitation of Davenant fhews him to have been well qualified . Of his more elevated occafional poems there is per- haps none that does not deferve ...
... against peace in the clofe " Committee " be excepted . For grave burlesque , however , his imitation of Davenant fhews him to have been well qualified . Of his more elevated occafional poems there is per- haps none that does not deferve ...
Page 81
... against whom " Tydides nor Achilles could prevail , " Nor ten years conflict , nor a thousand fail . " He is not very careful to vary the ends of his ver- fes : in one paffage the word die rhimes three couplets in fix . Most of these ...
... against whom " Tydides nor Achilles could prevail , " Nor ten years conflict , nor a thousand fail . " He is not very careful to vary the ends of his ver- fes : in one paffage the word die rhimes three couplets in fix . Most of these ...
Common terms and phrases
againſt anfwer appears becauſe caufe cenfure character Charles Dryden compofitions confidered converfation Cowley criticifm criticks defign defire delight difcovered Dryden eafily Earl elegance English excellence expreffions exprefs fafe faid fame fatire fays fecond feems feen fenfe fent fentiments fhall fhew fhould fince firft firſt fome fomething fometimes foon ftill ftudies ftyle fubject fuch fuffered fufficiently fupply fuppofed fure genius himſelf honour houfe houſe Hudibras itſelf John Dryden King labour laft laſt leaft learning lefs Lord Milton mind moft moſt muft muſt nature neceffary never NIHIL numbers obferved occafion paffages paffed paffions Paradife Loft perfon perhaps Pindar pleafed pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry praife praiſe prefent profe publick publiſhed purpoſe racter raiſed reafon reft reprefented rhyme ſeems ſtudy thefe theſe thing thofe thoſe thou thought tion tragedy tranflation univerfally uſed verfes verſes Virgil Waller whofe write written
Popular passages
Page 146 - 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 382 - The clauses are never balanced, nor the periods modelled: every word seems to drop by chance, though it falls into its proper place. Nothing is cold or languid; the whole is airy, animated, and vigorous; what is little, is gay; what is great, is splendid.
Page 395 - To see this fleet upon the ocean move, Angels drew wide the curtains of the skies; And heaven, as if there wanted lights above, For tapers made two glaring comets rise.
Page 22 - The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together ; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions ; their learning instructs and their subtlety surprises ; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased.
Page 165 - 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 57 - Wash'd from the morning beauties' deepest red ; An harmless flatt'ring meteor shone for hair, And fell adown his shoulders with loose care ; He cuts out a silk mantle from the skies, Where the most sprightly azure...
Page 132 - that though our author had daily about him one or other to read, some persons of man's estate, who, of their own accord, greedily catched at the opportunity of being his readers, that they might as well reap the benefit of what they read to him, as oblige him by the benefit of their reading ; and others of younger years were sent by their parents to the same end...
Page 174 - 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 314 - Latin proverb, were not always the least happy; and as his fancy was quick, so likewise were the products of it remote and new. He borrowed not of any other, and his imaginations were such as could not easily enter into any other man.
Page 146 - We know that they never drove a field, and that they had no flocks to batten; and though it be allowed that the representation may be allegorical, the true meaning is so uncertain and remote, that it is never sought because it cannot be known when it is found.