Wit and Humour, Selected from the English Poets: With an Illustrative Essay, and Critical Comments |
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Page 15
... hand were Whigs , and those on my left Tories ; and that those who had placed themselves in the middle boxes were a neutral party , whose faces had not yet declared them- selves . * * * I must here take notice , that Rosalinda , a ...
... hand were Whigs , and those on my left Tories ; and that those who had placed themselves in the middle boxes were a neutral party , whose faces had not yet declared them- selves . * * * I must here take notice , that Rosalinda , a ...
Page 16
... hand , Chaucer , with a delightful impudence , has drawn a pretended compliment out of a satire the most outrageous . He makes the Cock say to the Hen , in the fable told by the Nuns ' Priest , that " the female is the confusion of the ...
... hand , Chaucer , with a delightful impudence , has drawn a pretended compliment out of a satire the most outrageous . He makes the Cock say to the Hen , in the fable told by the Nuns ' Priest , that " the female is the confusion of the ...
Page 25
... hands of the Puritans . Plentiful specimens of it from that poem will be found in the present volume . The work of Rabe- lais is a wild but profound burlesque of some of the worst abuses in government and religion ; and it has had a ...
... hands of the Puritans . Plentiful specimens of it from that poem will be found in the present volume . The work of Rabe- lais is a wild but profound burlesque of some of the worst abuses in government and religion ; and it has had a ...
Page 27
... hand , than to keep sitting there like a baboon and lowing like a cow ? " " Be , be , be , bous , bous , bous , " returned Panurge ;-( he was blubbering , and swallowing the water that broke over them ) — “ Friar John , my friend , my ...
... hand , than to keep sitting there like a baboon and lowing like a cow ? " " Be , be , be , bous , bous , bous , " returned Panurge ;-( he was blubbering , and swallowing the water that broke over them ) — “ Friar John , my friend , my ...
Page 32
... head I walk'd along the Strand , I there did meet another man With his hat in his hand . Nevertheless this jest is an edifying instance of a wit's not being always aware of the beauty contained in what 32 AN ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY.
... head I walk'd along the Strand , I there did meet another man With his hat in his hand . Nevertheless this jest is an edifying instance of a wit's not being always aware of the beauty contained in what 32 AN ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY.
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Common terms and phrases
admirable Apho APHOBUS Bacurius Ben Jonson Bessus brother call'd captain character Charles Lamb Chaucer Colax comedy Corb Corv courtepy courtier cried Dean Deil devil Don Quixote doth duke exquisite eyes Falstaff fancy fear fool Friar genius Gent gentleman give grace hath head hear heart heaven hire honour horse Hudibras Igno Jaques Kate Kath KATHARINA kick'd king Lady laugh laughter LEIGH HUNT lord Macaronic madam master mind mock-heroic Molière Mosca nature never night Panurge passage PETRUCHIO poem poet poetry poor pray quod quoth Rabelais rhymes satire servant Shakspeare Sompnour soul spleen summoner sure sweet Swift sylph Tartuffe tell thee ther things thou thought Twas twelf unto verse Volp Volpone Volt wife Wit and Humour word write
Popular passages
Page 253 - The rest the winds dispers'd in empty air. But now secure the painted vessel glides, The sunbeams trembling on the floating tides ; While melting music steals upon the sky, And soften'd sounds along the waters die : Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play, Belinda smil'd, and all the world was gay. All but the sylph — with careful thoughts opprest, Th' impending woe sat heavy on his breast.
Page 238 - A man so various that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome : Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts and nothing long ; But in the course of one revolving moon Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon ; Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking, Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking.
Page 217 - twixt south and south-west side ; On either which he would dispute, Confute, change hands, and still confute He'd undertake to prove by force Of argument a man's no horse ; He'd prove a buzzard is no fowl, And that a lord may be an owl, A calf an alderman, a goose a justice, And rooks committee-men and trustees ; He'd run in debt by disputation, And pay with ratiocination.
Page 106 - Who therewith angry, when it next came there, Took it in snuff - and still he smil'd and talk'd: And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly, To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
Page 309 - Though secure of our hearts, yet confoundedly sick, If they were not his own by finessing and trick ; He cast off his friends, as a huntsman his pack, For he knew when he pleased he could whistle them back.
Page 307 - Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such, We scarcely can praise it or blame it too much; Who, born for the universe, narrowed his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind...
Page 270 - So proud, so grand: of that stupendous air, Soft and agreeable come never there. Greatness, with Timon, dwells in such a draught As brings all Brobdignag before your thought. To compass this, his building is a town, His pond an ocean, his parterre a down : Who but must laugh, the master when he sees, A puny insect, shivering at a breeze!
Page ix - For, wit lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy...
Page 235 - Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high, He sought the storms ; but, for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit.
Page 256 - At once they gratify their scent and taste, And frequent cups prolong the rich repast. Straight hover round the fair her airy band ; Some, as she...