The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.G. Walker ... [and 9 others], 1820 |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 54
Page 4
... known by the term jocu- lar and comic , is nothing but a turn of expression , an airy phantom , that must be caught at a particular point . As we lose this point , we lose the jocularity , and find nothing but dulness in its place . A ...
... known by the term jocu- lar and comic , is nothing but a turn of expression , an airy phantom , that must be caught at a particular point . As we lose this point , we lose the jocularity , and find nothing but dulness in its place . A ...
Page 7
... known relating to the history of comedy . Its beginnings are as obscure as those of tragedy , and there is an appearance that we take these two words in a more extensive meaning ; they had both the same original , that is , they began ...
... known relating to the history of comedy . Its beginnings are as obscure as those of tragedy , and there is an appearance that we take these two words in a more extensive meaning ; they had both the same original , that is , they began ...
Page 8
Samuel Johnson. have known better than us the true dates of drama- tic works . This poet supports the system which I have endeavoured to establish in the second discourse * so strongly as to amount to demonstrative proof . 66 66 Horace ...
Samuel Johnson. have known better than us the true dates of drama- tic works . This poet supports the system which I have endeavoured to establish in the second discourse * so strongly as to amount to demonstrative proof . 66 66 Horace ...
Page 12
... known . In which it may be particularly observed , that not the least appearance of praise will be found , and there- fore certainly no trace of flattery or servility . , This licentiousness of the poets , to which in some sort Socrates ...
... known . In which it may be particularly observed , that not the least appearance of praise will be found , and there- fore certainly no trace of flattery or servility . , This licentiousness of the poets , to which in some sort Socrates ...
Page 16
... known ; what account we can give of it must there- fore be had from his comedies . It can scarcely be said with certainty of what country he was : the invectives of his enemies so often called in question his qualification as a citizen ...
... known ; what account we can give of it must there- fore be had from his comedies . It can scarcely be said with certainty of what country he was : the invectives of his enemies so often called in question his qualification as a citizen ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
amuse ancient appear Aristophanes Athenians Athens Banquo beauty censure CHAP character comedy comic common considered danger delight desire died hereafter discovered easily elegance endeavoured equally Eupolis Euripides evil expected eyes favour fear felicity folly fortune genius give gratified Greek Greek comedy happiness happy valley honour hope hour human imagine Imlac inquire kayah kind knowledge labour lady learned less likewise live look Macbeth mankind manner Menander ment mind misery Moliere nations nature Nekayah ness never observed once opinion passage passed passions Pekuah perhaps phanes Plautus pleased pleasure Plutarch poet present prince PRINCE OF ABISSINIA princess racter Rasselas reader reason rest ridicule scarcely scene sentiments Shakespeare shew Socrates solitude sometimes success suffered supposed surely taste Terence thing thou thought Tibullus tion tragedy truth virtue weary witches writers
Popular passages
Page 98 - Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crown'd withal.
Page 130 - She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Page 105 - Pale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murder, Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth, Hear not my steps which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my whereabout And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it.
Page 109 - Tis much he dares; And, to 5 that dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour To act in safety.
Page 299 - YE who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow ; attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.
Page 417 - The prince heard this narration with very serious regard, but the princess smiled, and Pekuah convulsed herself with laughter. 'Ladies,' said Imlac, 'to mock the heaviest of human afflictions is neither charitable nor wise. Few can attain this man's knowledge, and few practise his virtues; but all may suffer his calamity. Of the uncertainties of our present state, the most dreadful and alarming is the uncertain continuance of reason.
Page 138 - The gates of hell are open night and day ; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way : But, to return, and view the cheerful skies — In this the task and mighty labour lies.
Page 103 - All things are hush'd as Nature's self lay dead, The mountains seem to nod their drowsy head : The little birds in dreams their songs repeat, And sleeping flowers beneath the night dews sweat. Even lust and envy sleep...
Page 418 - In time, some particular train of ideas fixes the attention, all other intellectual gratifications are rejected, the mind, in weariness or leisure, recurs constantly to the favourite conception, and feasts on the luscious falsehood, whenever she is offended with the bitterness of truth.
Page 418 - There is no man whose imagination does not sometimes predominate over his reason, who can regulate his attention wholly by his will, and whose ideas will come and go at his command. No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyrannize and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober probability.