And yet it fills me with wonder, that, in almost all countries, the most ancient poets are considered as the best: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once; or that the... Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia - Page 27by Samuel Johnson - 1804 - 135 pagesFull view - About this book
| Philadelphia (Pa.) - 1819 - 550 pages
...best. Whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once; or that the first poetry...writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that followed... | |
| Samuel Johnson - 1804 - 594 pages
...best. Whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once, or that the first poetry...the same, the first writers took possession of the striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to... | |
| Samuel Johnson - English literature - 1806 - 376 pages
...: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once ; or that the first poetry...writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences forfiction, andleft nothing to those that followed them,... | |
| Samuel Johnson - Historical fiction - 1809 - 210 pages
...best: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once; or that the first poetry...writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that followed... | |
| Samuel Johnson - Ethiopia - 1810 - 230 pages
...: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once ; or that the first poetry...writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that followed... | |
| Samuel Johnson - 1811 - 428 pages
...whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is sfn acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once ; or that the first poetry...writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that followed... | |
| Samuel Johnson, Francis William Blagdon - English fiction - 1811 - 250 pages
...: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once ; or that the first poetry...writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that followed... | |
| Samuel Johnson - English fiction - 1811 - 194 pages
...attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once; or that the first poctiy of every nation surprized them as a novelty, and retained the credit by consent...nature and passion, which are always the same, the lirst writers took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences... | |
| Elegant extracts - 1812 - 310 pages
...: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once ; or that the first poetry...accident at first : or whether, as the province of pi.etry is to describe nature and passion, which are always the same, the first writers took possession... | |
| Samuel Johnson - 1815 - 272 pages
...: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at once; or that the first poetry...and passion, •which are always the same, the first writer* took possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occurrences... | |
| |