The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.G. Walker ... [and 9 others], 1820 |
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Page 8
... success " in its beginning . " Thus we see that the Greek comedy arose after tragedy , and by consequence tra- gedy was its parent . It was formed in imitation of Eschylus , the inventor of the tragic drama ; or , to go yet higher into ...
... success " in its beginning . " Thus we see that the Greek comedy arose after tragedy , and by consequence tra- gedy was its parent . It was formed in imitation of Eschylus , the inventor of the tragic drama ; or , to go yet higher into ...
Page 20
... " with confidence . When he wrote , he consulted no " other laws than the taste of his auditors , and regu " lated his manner more by the success of his work 66 than by the rules of reason . Thus he 20 A DISSERTATION ON THE.
... " with confidence . When he wrote , he consulted no " other laws than the taste of his auditors , and regu " lated his manner more by the success of his work 66 than by the rules of reason . Thus he 20 A DISSERTATION ON THE.
Page 36
... success depend in a great degree upon their subject , that is , upon circumstances which we measure by the circumstances of our own days . According to this prejudice , oratory depends more upon its subject than history , and poetry yet ...
... success depend in a great degree upon their subject , that is , upon circumstances which we measure by the circumstances of our own days . According to this prejudice , oratory depends more upon its subject than history , and poetry yet ...
Page 45
... that we arrive at probability , which is the only " infallible guide to theatrical success : without this pro- bability every thing is defective , and that which has 66 66 " it , is beautiful : he that follows GREEK COMEDY . 45.
... that we arrive at probability , which is the only " infallible guide to theatrical success : without this pro- bability every thing is defective , and that which has 66 66 " it , is beautiful : he that follows GREEK COMEDY . 45.
Page 48
... success of that odd com- position Tragic Comedy , a monster wholly unknown to antiquity , sufficiently shews the danger of novelty in attempts like these . Whether Tragedy or Comedy be the harder to write . XV . To finish the parallel ...
... success of that odd com- position Tragic Comedy , a monster wholly unknown to antiquity , sufficiently shews the danger of novelty in attempts like these . Whether Tragedy or Comedy be the harder to write . XV . To finish the parallel ...
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Common terms and phrases
ADVENTURER amuse ancient appear Aristophanes Athens Banquo beauty censure CHAP character comedy common considered danger delight desire died hereafter discovered easily elegance endeavoured equally Eupolis Euripides evil expected eyes favour fear felicity folly fortune friends gain genius give gratified Greek comedy happiness happy valley honour hope hour human imagine Imlac inquire kayah kind knowledge labour learned less likewise live look Macbeth mankind manner Menander ment mind misery Moliere nature Nekayah ness never observed once opinion passage passed passions Pekuah perhaps perpetual phanes Plautus pleased pleasure Plutarch poet praise present prince PRINCE OF ABISSINIA princess racter Rasselas reader reason rest scarcely scene sentiments Serenus Shakespeare shew Socrates solitude sometimes success suffered supposed surely taste Theocritus thing thou thought Tibullus tion tragedy truth ulmo virtue writers
Popular passages
Page 98 - Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty...
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.
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 329 - But the knowledge of nature is only half the task of a poet; he must be acquainted likewise with all the modes of life. His character requires that he estimate the happiness and misery of every condition; observe the power of all the passions in all their combinations, and trace the changes of the human mind as they are modified by various institutions and accidental influences of climate or custom, from the spriteliness of infancy to the despondence of decrepitude.
Page 149 - Just in the gate, and in the jaws of hell, Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell, And pale Diseases, and repining Age, Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage; Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep, (Forms terrible to view) their sentry keep; With anxious Pleasures of a guilty mind, Deep Frauds before, and open Force behind; The Furies' iron beds; and Strife, that shakes Her hissing tresses, and unfolds her snakes.
Page 353 - I have found, said the prince, at his return to Imlac, a man who can teach all that is necessary to be known, who, from the unshaken throne of rational fortitude, looks down on the scenes of life changing beneath him. He speaks, and attention watches his lips. He reasons, and conviction closes his periods. This man shall be my future guide: I will learn his doctrines, and imitate his life." "Be not too hasty, said Imlac, to trust, or to admire, the teachers of morality: they discourse like angels,...
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 360 - ... sometimes ashamed to think that I could not secure myself from vice, but by retiring from the exercise of virtue, and begin to suspect that I was rather impelled by resentment than led by devotion into solitude. My fancy riots in scenes of folly, and I lament that I have lost so much, and have gained so little. In solitude, if I escape the example of bad men, I want likewise the counsel and conversation of the good. I have been long comparing the evils with the advantages of society, and resolve...
Page 121 - Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and howlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Page 442 - The prince desired a little kingdom, in which he might administer justice in his own person, and see all the parts of government with his own eyes ; but he could never fix the limits of his dominion, and was always adding to the number of his subjects. Imlac and the astronomer were contented to be driven along the stream of life without directing their course to any particular port.