Selections from the Works of Samuel Johnson |
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Page xii
... performance struggles after the idea is so irksome and disgusting , and so frequent is the necessity of rest- ing below the perfection we imagined within our reach , that seldom any man obtains more from his endeavors than a painful ...
... performance struggles after the idea is so irksome and disgusting , and so frequent is the necessity of rest- ing below the perfection we imagined within our reach , that seldom any man obtains more from his endeavors than a painful ...
Page xliii
... stand for some time with his ear close to the great drone - certainly not strong proof of his discernment in the art . He regretfully admits that he cared as little for painting . The difficulty of the performance was his INTRODUCTION ...
... stand for some time with his ear close to the great drone - certainly not strong proof of his discernment in the art . He regretfully admits that he cared as little for painting . The difficulty of the performance was his INTRODUCTION ...
Page xliv
Samuel Johnson Charles Grosvenor Osgood. for painting . The difficulty of the performance was his chief criterion . Yet he really felt the superiority of Raphael on viewing his works in Paris . He was disgusted , as well he might be ...
Samuel Johnson Charles Grosvenor Osgood. for painting . The difficulty of the performance was his chief criterion . Yet he really felt the superiority of Raphael on viewing his works in Paris . He was disgusted , as well he might be ...
Page 1
... performance than a serious satire , yet it expresses with much vigor , Johnson's hatred of insincerity and servile meanness , and his sense of public danger which lies in forgetting the simplicity and ideals of an earlier period in ...
... performance than a serious satire , yet it expresses with much vigor , Johnson's hatred of insincerity and servile meanness , and his sense of public danger which lies in forgetting the simplicity and ideals of an earlier period in ...
Page 10
... performance , helped to win for it the fairly respectful hearing which the London public granted it . The poem was written at Hampstead , a place now con- secrated by many literary associations . Johnson told Steevens : ' I wrote the ...
... performance , helped to win for it the fairly respectful hearing which the London public granted it . The poem was written at Hampstead , a place now con- secrated by many literary associations . Johnson told Steevens : ' I wrote the ...
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SELECTIONS FROM THE WORKS OF S Samuel 1709-1784 Johnson,Charles Grosvenor 1871-1964 Osgood No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
acquaintance Addison afterwards appeared Ashbourne blank verse Boswell Cato censure character Chesterfield considered contempt criticism dear death declared desire Dictionary distress Dryden Dunciad effect elegance endeavored English essays expected favor fortune friends friendship genius Georgic guineas happiness honor hope imagination JAMES BOSWELL Johnson kind knowledge labor language learning letter Lichfield literary live London Lord Tyrconnel mankind ment merit mind misery mother nature neglect ness never obliged observed once opinion panegyric passions pension performance perhaps pleased pleasure poem poet poetical justice poetry Pope praise present queen Rambler Rasselas reason received regard retired Richard Savage SATIRE OF JUVENAL Savage Savage's says seldom sentiments Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Robert Walpole solicited sometimes Spectator Steele suffered Tatler tenderness things thought Thrale tion tragedy vanity verses virtue Whig Whiggism words write written wrote
Popular passages
Page 26 - Seven years, my lord, have now passed, since I waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door; during which time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties, of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of publication, without one act of assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of favor. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a patron before.
Page 396 - ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men ; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise ; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Page 27 - Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help ? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary and cannot impart it; till I am known and do not want it.
Page 434 - I have laboured to refine our language to grammatical purity, and to clear it from colloquial barbarisms, licentious idioms, and irregular combinations. Something, perhaps, I have added to the elegance of its construction, and something to the harmony of its cadence.
Page 471 - Inspired repulsed battalions to engage, And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. So when an angel by divine command With rising tempests shakes a guilty land, Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past, Calm and serene he drives the furious blast ; And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.
Page 363 - Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison.
Page 409 - No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail ; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned'.
Page 27 - The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.
Page 23 - Ah ! let not Censure term our fate our choice, The stage but echoes back the public voice ; The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give, For we that live to please, must please to live.
Page 58 - I have protracted my work till most of those whom I wished to please have sunk into the grave, and success and miscarriage are empty sounds. I therefore dismiss it with frigid tranquillity, having little to fear or hope from censure or from praise.