The works of the English poets. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson, Volume 201790 |
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Page 15
... betwixt them , by the reader , without obtruding my opinion on him : of if I feem partial to my countryman , and predeceffor in the Jaurel , the friends of antiquity are not few : and befides many of the learned , Ovid has almost all ...
... betwixt them , by the reader , without obtruding my opinion on him : of if I feem partial to my countryman , and predeceffor in the Jaurel , the friends of antiquity are not few : and befides many of the learned , Ovid has almost all ...
Page 21
... It is the same dif- ference which Longinus makes betwixt the effects of eloquence in Demofthenes and Tully . One perfuades ; the other commands . You never cool while you read C 3 Homer , Homer , even not in the second book ( a PREFACE .
... It is the same dif- ference which Longinus makes betwixt the effects of eloquence in Demofthenes and Tully . One perfuades ; the other commands . You never cool while you read C 3 Homer , Homer , even not in the second book ( a PREFACE .
Page 22
... betwixt the heats ; the Iliad of itself being a third part longer than all Virgil's works together . This is what I thought needful in this place to say of Homer . I proceed to Ovid and Chaucer ; confider- ing the former only in ...
... betwixt the heats ; the Iliad of itself being a third part longer than all Virgil's works together . This is what I thought needful in this place to say of Homer . I proceed to Ovid and Chaucer ; confider- ing the former only in ...
Page 26
... 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 remains that I fay fomewhat of Chaucer in particular ...
... 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 remains that I fay fomewhat of Chaucer in particular ...
Page 27
... betwixt a modest behaviour and affectation . The verfe of Chaucer , I confefs , is not harmonious to us ; but it is like the eloquence of one whom Tacitus commends , it was " auribus iftius tem- poris accommodata : " they who lived with ...
... betwixt a modest behaviour and affectation . The verfe of Chaucer , I confefs , is not harmonious to us ; but it is like the eloquence of one whom Tacitus commends , it was " auribus iftius tem- poris accommodata : " they who lived with ...
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.