Johnson's Life of Pope [ed.] by P. Peterson |
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Addison afterwards appear attacked attention believe Bolingbroke called character common Compare considered contained copies criticism death Dennis desire died discovered Dryden Dunciad edition English Epistle epitaph Essay excellence expected fame father favour formed frequent genius give given Greek hands Homer honour hundred Iliad Johnson kind King known Lady language Latin learning less letters lines living Lord means mentioned mind moral nature never numbers once opinion original Page passage performances perhaps person poem poet poetry Pope Pope's praise present printed produce published readers reason referred remarks satire seems sense sometimes Spence sufficient supposed Swift tell things thought tion told translation true verses volume Warburton write written wrote
Popular passages
Page 185 - The sound must seem an echo to the sense. Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar : When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow : Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. Hear how Timotheus...
Page 90 - If the flights of Dryden, therefore, are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight.
Page 29 - As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night! O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light, When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene ; Around her throne the vivid planets roll, And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole, O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed, And tip with silver every mountain's head...
Page 162 - There dwelt a Citizen of sober fame, A plain good man, and Balaam was his name ; Religious, punctual, frugal, and so forth; His word would pass for more than he was worth.
Page 166 - Whose buzz the witty and the fair annoys, Yet wit ne'er tastes, and beauty ne'er enjoys : So well-bred spaniels civilly delight In mumbling of the game they dare not bite. Eternal smiles his emptiness...
Page 117 - Statesman \ yet friend to Truth! of soul sincere, ' In action faithful, and in honour clear ; 'Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end, 'Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend ; 'Ennobled by himself, by all approv'd, 'And prais'd, unenvy'd, by the Muse he lov'd.
Page 181 - He seems to have been, at least among us, the author of a species of composition that may be denominated local poetry, of which the fundamental subject is some particular landscape, to be poetically described with the addition of such embellishments as may be supplied by historical retrospection or incidental meditation.
Page 89 - Dryden knew more of man in his general nature, and Pope in his local manners. The notions of Dryden were formed by comprehensive speculation, and those of Pope by minute attention. There is more dignity in the knowledge of Dryden, and more certainty in that of Pope.
Page 147 - There my retreat the best companions grace, Chiefs out of war, and statesmen out of place: There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl The feast of reason and the flow of soul: And he, whose lightning pierced the' Iberian lines, Now forms my quincunx, and now ranks my vines; Or tames the genius of the stubborn plain, Almost as quickly as he conquer'd Spain.
Page 89 - The style of Dryden is capricious and varied, that of Pope is cautious and uniform; Dryden obeys the motions of his own mind, Pope constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid; Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle.
Bibliographic information
| Title | Johnson's Life of Pope [ed.] by P. Peterson Macmillan's Engl. classics |
| Author | Samuel Johnson |
| Editor | Peter Peterson |
| Publisher | London, 1899 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | 22 Jan 2008 |
| Length | 200 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |