The works of the English poets. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Volume 201790 |
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Page 8
... best victories , which are those that are leaft bloody , and which , though atchieved by the hand , are managed by the head . Science diftin- guishes a man of honour from one of those athletic brutes whom undeservedly we call heroes ...
... best victories , which are those that are leaft bloody , and which , though atchieved by the hand , are managed by the head . Science diftin- guishes a man of honour from one of those athletic brutes whom undeservedly we call heroes ...
Page 14
... best verfifier of the former age ; if I may properly call it by that name which was the former part of this concluding century . For Spenfer and Fairfax both flourished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; great mafters in our language ...
... best verfifier of the former age ; if I may properly call it by that name which was the former part of this concluding century . For Spenfer and Fairfax both flourished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; great mafters in our language ...
Page 16
... best , that they will not be condemned ; but if they should , I have the excufe of an old gentle- man , who , mounting on horseback before fome ladies , when I was prefent , got up somewhat heavily , but de- fired of the fair fpectators ...
... best , that they will not be condemned ; but if they should , I have the excufe of an old gentle- man , who , mounting on horseback before fome ladies , when I was prefent , got up somewhat heavily , but de- fired of the fair fpectators ...
Page 26
... best of my know- ledge , been an upright judge betwixt the parties in competition , not meddling with the defign nor the dif- pofition of it ; because the defign was not their own ; and in the difpofing of it they were equal . It ...
... best of my know- ledge , been an upright judge betwixt the parties in competition , not meddling with the defign nor the dif- pofition of it ; because the defign was not their own ; and in the difpofing of it they were equal . It ...
Page 29
... best becomes the worft . When a clergyman is whipped , his gown is first taken off , by which the dignity of his order is fecured : if he be wrongfully accufed , he has his action of flander ; and it is at the poet's peril , if he ...
... best becomes the worft . When a clergyman is whipped , his gown is first taken off , by which the dignity of his order is fecured : if he be wrongfully accufed , he has his action of flander ; and it is at the poet's peril , if he ...
Common terms and phrases
againſt Arcite arms becauſe befides behold beſt betwixt blood breaſt caft Canterbury tales cauſe Chanticleer Chaucer cloſe Cymon dame death deferve defign'd defire earth eaſe Emily Engliſh Ev'n eyes fafe faid fair fame fate fear feas fecret feem'd fenfe fent fhall fide fight fince fing fire firft firſt flain fome foon forc'd forrow foul fovereign freſh ftill ftood fuch fuffer fure fword Goddeſs grace heart heaven himſelf honour iffuing king knight laft laſt leaſt lefs liv'd loft lord lov'd maid mind moft moſt muft muſt myſelf numbers o'er Ovid Palamon Pirithous plac'd pleas'd pleaſe pleaſure poet prefent prepar'd purſue reaſon refolv'd reft reſt ſaid ſay ſeen ſhall ſhe ſhould ſky ſpace ſpeak ſpoke ſtate ſtill ſtood Synalepha Thebes thee Thefeus themſelves theſe thofe thoſe thou thought tranflated turn'd uſe Virgil whofe whoſe wife Wife of Bath
Popular passages
Page 13 - ... he first intended. He alters his mind as the work proceeds, and will have this or that convenience more, of which he had not thought when he began. So has it happened to me ; I have built a house where I intended but a lodge; yet with better success than a certain nobleman, who, beginning with a dog-kennel, never lived to finish the palace he had contrived.
Page 19 - In the works of the two authors we may read their manners and natural inclinations, which are wholly different. Virgil was of a quiet, sedate temper ; Homer was violent, impetuous, and full of fire. The chief talent of Virgil was propriety of thoughts, and ornament of words : Homer was rapid in his thoughts, and took all the liberties both of numbers and of expressions, which his language and the age in which he lived allowed him.
Page 31 - Tales the various manners and humours (as we now call them) of the whole English nation, in his age. Not a single character has escaped him. All his pilgrims are severally distinguished from each other; and not only in their inclinations, but in their very physiognomies and persons.
Page 31 - The matter and manner of their tales, and of their telling, are so suited to their different educations, humours, and callings that each of them would be improper in any other mouth.
Page 32 - ... their several sorts of gravity: their discourses are such as belong to their age, their calling, and their breeding; such as are becoming of them, and of them only.
Page 42 - He has taken some pains with my poetry ; but nobody will be persuaded to take the same with his. If I had taken to the church (as he affirms, but which was never in my thoughts), I should have had more...
Page 19 - Homer was rapid in his thoughts, and took all the liberties, both of numbers and of expressions, which his language, and the age in which he lived, allowed him. Homer's invention was more copious, Virgil's more confined; so that if Homer had not led the way, it was not in Virgil to have begun heroic poetry; for nothing can be more evident, than that the Roman poem is but the second part of the Ilias; a continuation of the same story, and the persons already formed.
Page 121 - Bade cease the war ; pronouncing from on high, Arcite of Thebes had won the beauteous Emily. The sound of trumpets to the voice replied, And round the royal lists the heralds cried, Arcite of Thebes has won the beauteous bride.
Page 248 - As on this very spot of earth I fell, As Friday saw me die, so she my prey Becomes ev'n here, on this revolving day.
Page 298 - Had form'd the whole, and made the parts agree, That no unequal portions might be found, He moulded earth into a spacious round: Then with a breath, he gave the winds to blow; And bade the congregated waters flow.