The Works of the English Poets: Prefaces |
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Adam againſt anfwer angels appears becauſe Butler cenfure Chorus Comus Confcience confidered curiofity daugh daughter defcend defign defire delight diction diſcover eafily epick poem Euripides exercifes fafe faid fame fatire fays fecond fecretary feems fent fentiments feven fhew fhort fhould fince firft firſt fome fomething fometimes fpirits ftate ftill ftudied fubject fuch fuffered fufficiently fufpected fupplied fuppofed fure hiftory himſelf houfe houſe Hudibras images inftruct John Milton juftice king labour laft language Latin leaft learning lefs Lycidas meaſure ment Milton mind moft moſt mufick muft muſt neceffary nefs never numbers obferved occafion opinion paffions Paradife Loft perfons perhaps perufal philofophy pleaſe pleaſure poet poetry poffible pounds praife praiſe prefent preferve profe promife publick publiſhed queftion racter radife raiſed reafon refidence regicides reprefented rhyme Salmafius ſtudy thefe theſe thofe thoſe thought tion univerfity uſe vifited Weft whofe write
Popular passages
Page 23 - innovators whom I oppofe are turning off attention from life to nature. They feem to think', that we are placed here to watch the growth of plants, or the motions of the ftars. Socrates was rather of opinion, that what we had to learn was, how to do good, and avoid evil. "Or//
Page 21 - whether we wifh to be ufeful or pleafing, .the firft requifite is the religious and moral knowledge of right and wrong; the next is an acquaintance with the hiftory of mankind, and with thofe examples which maybe faid to embody truth, and prove by events the reafonablenefs
Page 18 - Ihould be degraded to a fchoolmafter; but fince it cannot be denied that he taught boys, one finds out that he taught for nothing, and another that his motive was only zeal for the propagation of learning and virtue; and all tell what they do not know to be true,, only to excufe an
Page 132 - .was not of the church of England. To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are diftant, and which is animated only by Faith and Hope, will glide. by. degrees out of the mind, unlefs it be invigorated and
Page 19 - by an honeft and ufeful employment. It is told, that in the art of education he performed wonders; and a formidable lift is given of the authors, Greek and Latin, that were read in Alderfgate-ftreet, by youth between ten and fifteen or fixteen years of age. Thofe who tell or receive thefe ftories,
Page 147 - We know that they never drove a field, and that they had no flocks to batten^ and though it be allowed that the reprefentation may be allegorical, the true meaning is fo uncertain and remote, •that it is never fought, becaufe it cannot be known when it
Page 143 - them commended by a man well qualified to decide their merit. The Latin pieces are lufcioufly elegant; but the delight which they afford is rather by * the exquifite imitation of the ancient writers, by the purity of the diction, and the harmony of the numbers, than by any power of invention, or vigour of
Page 212 - melody of numbers, and therefore tires by long continuance. Of the Italian writers without rhyme, whom Milton alleges as precedents, not one is popular ; what reafon could urge in its •defence, has been confuted by the ear. But, whatever be the advantage of rhyme, I cannot prevail on myfelf to wifh
Page 2 - fortunate poet to his new patron. At " laft an appointment was made, and " the place of meeting was agreed to " be the Roebuck. Mr. Butler and " his friend attended accordingly: the ** duke joined them; but, as the d—1 " would have it, the door of the room ** where they fat was open, and his
Page 161 - however adapted to the Italian language, has never fucceeded in ours, which, having greater variety of termination, requires the rhymes to be often changed. Thofe little pieces may be difpatched without -much anxiety; a greater work calls for greater care. I am now to examine Paradife Loft; a poem, which, •confidered with
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Works of the English Poets: Prefaces Volume 60 of The Works of the English Poets, Samuel Johnson Volume 60 of The Works of the English Poets: With Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, Samuel Johnson |
| Author | Samuel Johnson |
| Editor | Samuel Johnson |
| Publisher | H. Hughs, 1779 |
| Original from | the New York Public Library |
| Digitized | 21 Oct 2005 |
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