The works of the English poets. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Volume 31790 |
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Addiſon afterwards againſt anſwer becauſe beſt Cato cenfure character compofitions confidered Congreve converfation criticiſm critick defign defired diction difcovered Dryden duke eafily earl eaſy Effay elegance Engliſh faid fame fatire favour fays fecretary feems feldom fent fentiments Fenton fhall fhew fhould fince firft firſt fome fometimes foon friends ftill ftudies fubject fuch fuffered fufficient fupplied fuppofed genius Henry Sacheverell Hiftory himſelf honour houfe houſe intereft Juba judgement king William Kit-cat Club Lady Jane Grey laft laſt leaſt lefs leſs lord lord Halifax mafter ment moft moſt muſt neceffary never obferved occafion paffages paffed paffion perfon play pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetry pofed Pope praife praiſe prefent preferved Prior profe publick publiſhed purpoſe raiſed reaſon ſay ſchool ſeems Sempronius Spence Steele ſuppoſed Syphax Tatler thefe theſe thofe thoſe thought Tickell tion told tragedy tranflated uſed verfes verfion verſes Whig whofe whoſe write written
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Page 36 - regular, and then pious. His ftudies had been fo various, that I am not able to name a man of equal knowledge. His acquaintance with books was great; and what he did not immediately know he could at leaft tell where to find. Such was his amplitude of
Page 205 - was fent me " over, by a friend of mine, the works of " John Hughes, Efquire. They are in profe " and verfe. I never heard of the man in my " life, yet I find your name as a fubfcriber. " He is too grave a poet for me ; and I think «
Page 37 - in phyfick will be long remembered ; and with David Garrick, whom I hoped to have gratified with this character of our common friend: but what are the hopes of man ! I am difappointed by that ftroke of death, which has eclipfed the gaiety of nations, and
Page 263 - excited horror; the wife and the pious caught the alarm, and the nation wondered •why it had fo long fuffered irreligion and licentioufnefs to be openly taught at the publick charge. Nothing now remained for the poets but to refift or fly. Dryden's confcience or his prudence, angry as he was, withheld him from the
Page 105 - When the matter is low or fcanty, a dead language, in which nothing is mean becaufe nothing is familiar, affords great conveniences ; and by the fonorous magnificence of Roman fyllables, the writer conceals penury of thought, and want of novelty, often from the reader, and often from himfelf. In his twenty-fecond year he firft
Page 149 - an intimate acquaintance of Terence and Ca"tullus, who had all their wit and nature, " heightened with humour more exquifite and " delightful than any other man ever poffefled." This is the fondnefs of a friend; let us hear what is told us by a rival.
Page 321 - their own Fine Parts, y n Report the valuable ones of any other man. So the Elegy I renounce. I condole with you from my heart, on the lofs of fo worthy a man, and a Friend to us both. Now he is gone, I muft tell you he has done you many a good office,
Page 161 - But the mention of another like confequence from a like caufe, or of a like performance by a like agency, is not a fimile, but an exemplification. It is not a fimile to fay that the Thames waters fields, as the Po waters fields; or that as Hecla vomits flames in Iceland, fo
Page 271 - a chilnefs to my trembling Heart. Give me thy hand, and let me hear thy voice; Nay, quickly fpeak to me, and let me hear Thy voice—my own affrights me with its echoes. - He who reads
Page 192 - of ignorance ; and in the female world, any acquaintance with books was diftinguifhed only to be cenfured. His purpofe was to infufe literary curiofity, by gentle and unfufpefted conveyance, into the gay, the idle, and the wealthy; he therefore prefented knowledge in the