Essays: On the Nature and Immutability of Truth, in Opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism : on Poetry and Music, as They Affect the Mind : on Laughter, and Ludicrous Composition : on the Utility of Classical Learning, Volume 2William Creech, Edinburgh; and for E. & C. Dilly, and T. Cadell, London, 1776 - 555 pages |
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Page 16
... authors of merit , whofe beauties too often give a fanction to their blemishes . For this reafon it is , that I have ... author , to whom every lo ver of English poetry is deeply indebted , I beg leave , once for all , to deliver at ...
... authors of merit , whofe beauties too often give a fanction to their blemishes . For this reafon it is , that I have ... author , to whom every lo ver of English poetry is deeply indebted , I beg leave , once for all , to deliver at ...
Page 23
... author cannot convey either pleasure or instruction , by delivering fentiments as his own , which contradict the ... author's meaning ; and ( which is worfe ) counteracts his defign . The defign of the Latin poet was , not to expatiate ...
... author cannot convey either pleasure or instruction , by delivering fentiments as his own , which contradict the ... author's meaning ; and ( which is worfe ) counteracts his defign . The defign of the Latin poet was , not to expatiate ...
Page 28
... author's name through a long fuc- ❝ceffion of ages Now , what is the meaning of all this ? What , but that to the ... authors tran- fcendently fweet , but not remarkably in- ftructive . We are fure , that pathos , and harmony , and ...
... author's name through a long fuc- ❝ceffion of ages Now , what is the meaning of all this ? What , but that to the ... authors tran- fcendently fweet , but not remarkably in- ftructive . We are fure , that pathos , and harmony , and ...
Page 35
... author mad ? And are the abfurdities of madmen proper fubjects either of amusement or of imitation to reasonable beings ? Let it be remarked too , that though we distinguish our internal powers by different names , because otherwife we ...
... author mad ? And are the abfurdities of madmen proper fubjects either of amusement or of imitation to reasonable beings ? Let it be remarked too , that though we distinguish our internal powers by different names , because otherwife we ...
Page 41
... author pleases to adopt ; provided that he lay the fcene in a diftant country , or fix the date to a remote period . This is no unreafonable piece of complai- fance : we owe it both to the poet and to ourfelves ; for without it we ...
... author pleases to adopt ; provided that he lay the fcene in a diftant country , or fix the date to a remote period . This is no unreafonable piece of complai- fance : we owe it both to the poet and to ourfelves ; for without it we ...
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Common terms and phrases
abfurd Æneid affections agreeable alfo almoſt alſo ancient arife beauty becauſe beſt cafe caufe cauſe character Cicero circumſtances Claffic compofition confequently converfation defcription Dido dignity diſtinguiſhed elegant emotions Engliſh expreffion exprefs faid fame fancy fatire feem fenfe fenfible fentiments ferious fhall fhould fimilar fimplicity firſt fome fomething fometimes fong fpeak fpeech ftill ftyle fubject fublime fuch fufficient fuperior fuppofed genius give Greek harmony himſelf hiſtory Homer Hudibras human humour ideas Iliad imitation incongruous inftruction intereſting itſelf language Latin laughter leaſt lefs Loft ludicrous mind moft moral moſt mufic muft muſic muſt nature neceffary numbers obferved object occafion paffage paffions peculiar perfon philofophers pleafing pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry prefent profe purpoſe Quintilian racter raiſe reader reafon refpect ridiculous ſeems ſpeak ſpeaker ſtudy ſtyle tafte taſte thefe themſelves ther theſe thing thofe thoſe tion tranflation underſtanding uſe verf verſe Virgil whofe words
Popular passages
Page 540 - Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts: others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention.
Page 516 - I begin to discover beauties that were till now imperceptible to me. Every corner of an eye, or turn of a nose or ear, the smallest degree of light or shade on a cheek, or in a dimple, have charms to distract me. I no longer look upon Lord Plausible as ridiculous, for admiring a Lady's fine tip of an ear and pretty elbow (as the Plain Dealer...
Page 31 - I care not, Fortune, what you me deny : You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace ; You cannot shut the windows of the sky, Through which Aurora shows her brightening face; You cannot bar my constant feet to trace The woods and lawns, by living stream, at eve...
Page 284 - Ordain'd by thee ; and this delicious place For us too large, where thy abundance wants Partakers, and uncropt falls to the ground. But...
Page 403 - se offendendo;' it cannot be else. For here lies the point : if I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act : and an act hath three branches ; it is, to act, to do, to perform : argal, she drowned herself wittingly.
Page 336 - The sun had long since in the lap Of Thetis taken out his nap, And like a lobster boil'd, the morn From black to red began to turn."* The Imagination modifies images, and gives unity to variety; it sees all things in one, il piu nell
Page 308 - When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth and many a maid, Dancing in the chequer'd shade...
Page 182 - ... and diminution of the waters is apt to raise in a lonely region, full of echoes, and rocks, and caverns ; the grotesque and ghastly appearance of such a landscape by the light of the moon — objects like these diffuse a gloom over the fancy...
Page 374 - It is a sackposset, wherein the deeper you go you will find it the sweeter. Wisdom is a hen, whose cackling we must value and consider because it is attended with an egg. But then...
Page 384 - Cadwallador and Arthur, kings Full famous in romantic tale) when he, O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff, Upon a cargo of fam'd Cestrian cheese, High over-shadowing rides, with a design To vend his wares, or at th' Avonian mart, Or Maridunum, or the ancient town Yclep'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's stream Encircles Ariconium, fruitful soil!