Letters ... written between the years 1784 and 1807 [ed. by A. Constable].1811 |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 44
Page 22
... late rains , leaving our fields a swamp , have prevented my winter's walk to the mansion on the hill , where I always find recompence for hav- ing breasted the cutting blasts ; -that mansion so soon , alas ! to be deserted ! -over which ...
... late rains , leaving our fields a swamp , have prevented my winter's walk to the mansion on the hill , where I always find recompence for hav- ing breasted the cutting blasts ; -that mansion so soon , alas ! to be deserted ! -over which ...
Page 28
... late letter expressed , whose subject demand- ed the ardour of benevolent wishes , and of just in- dignation . Let me , however , do myself the justice to ob- serve , that my heart always recoiled with horror from the miseries which I ...
... late letter expressed , whose subject demand- ed the ardour of benevolent wishes , and of just in- dignation . Let me , however , do myself the justice to ob- serve , that my heart always recoiled with horror from the miseries which I ...
Page 34
... late letters have mentioned this poem , and the cha- ritable reason for publishing it , more meritorious than the thirst of fame . I have mentioned it also in our Lichfield circles ; but while those who form them seek my society , they ...
... late letters have mentioned this poem , and the cha- ritable reason for publishing it , more meritorious than the thirst of fame . I have mentioned it also in our Lichfield circles ; but while those who form them seek my society , they ...
Page 38
... late ver- nal mildness of our noons ; but we must expect hybernal relapses ; that , ere he takes his final flight , " Winter will oft at eve resume the breeze , Chill the pale morn , and bid his driving sleets Deform the day delightless ...
... late ver- nal mildness of our noons ; but we must expect hybernal relapses ; that , ere he takes his final flight , " Winter will oft at eve resume the breeze , Chill the pale morn , and bid his driving sleets Deform the day delightless ...
Page 60
... late years , im- proving fortunes , taken great state upon them- selves ; affect to live in what they call style ; to associate chiefly with Lords and Esquires of high degree in the environs . They think , no doubt , that thus ...
... late years , im- proving fortunes , taken great state upon them- selves ; affect to live in what they call style ; to associate chiefly with Lords and Esquires of high degree in the environs . They think , no doubt , that thus ...
Contents
203 | |
205 | |
208 | |
212 | |
219 | |
221 | |
225 | |
228 | |
51 | |
53 | |
58 | |
61 | |
67 | |
78 | |
82 | |
88 | |
90 | |
95 | |
101 | |
109 | |
113 | |
117 | |
121 | |
124 | |
127 | |
129 | |
136 | |
137 | |
139 | |
141 | |
144 | |
146 | |
148 | |
150 | |
152 | |
154 | |
157 | |
160 | |
161 | |
166 | |
168 | |
172 | |
175 | |
178 | |
182 | |
189 | |
195 | |
198 | |
231 | |
235 | |
236 | |
242 | |
245 | |
247 | |
250 | |
255 | |
260 | |
262 | |
263 | |
270 | |
272 | |
279 | |
283 | |
288 | |
290 | |
293 | |
298 | |
301 | |
309 | |
314 | |
317 | |
319 | |
326 | |
329 | |
331 | |
333 | |
336 | |
343 | |
344 | |
351 | |
359 | |
367 | |
370 | |
374 | |
381 | |
392 | |
395 | |
Common terms and phrases
Adieu admired amidst appears bard beautiful blank verse Cary charming compositions confess critical dear delight Dr Johnson Dryden Eartham elegance Eloisa to Abelard eloquence Epic Poetry excellence express Eyam fame fancy father favour feel genius Gentleman's Magazine give glow grace gratified Gray happiness Hayley Hayley's heart HERBERT CROFT honour hope ideas imagination ingenious interest Italian poetry Johnson Knowles Lady language late leisure less LETTER Lichfield literary living Lucy Porter Lycidas lyric Milton mind Miss Monody muse nature never numbers opinion passages Petrarch Pindar Piozzi pleasure poem poet poetic poetry Pope powers praise present prose recollect rhyme Shakespeare shew sister Solihul sonnet Sophia speak spirit style sublime superior sure sweet talents taste thing thou tion verse vulgarism Weston Whalley WILLIAM HAYLEY wish wonder word writings youth
Popular passages
Page 128 - So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, And yet anon repairs his drooping head, And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore Flames in the forehead of the morning sky...
Page 303 - LAWRENCE ! of virtuous father virtuous son, Now that the fields are dank, and ways are mire, Where shall we sometimes meet, and by the fire Help waste a sullen day, what may be won From the hard season gaining ? Time will run On smoother, till Favonius re-inspire The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire The lily' and rose, that neither sow'd nor spun.
Page 162 - Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more ; I mourn, but, ye woodlands, I mourn not for you ; For morn is approaching, your charms to restore, Perfumed with fresh fragrance, and glittering with dew: Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn ; Kind nature the embryo blossom will save. But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn ! O, when shall it dawn on the night of the grave...
Page 267 - For patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill; For faith, that, panting for a happier seat. Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat. These goods for man the laws of Heaven ordain, These goods He grants, who grants the power to gain ; With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind, And makes the happiness she does not find.
Page 346 - imp their eagle wings," a delighted spectator and auditor of their efforts. It was here, that Miss Molly Aston was frequently a visitor in the family of her brother-in-law, and probably amused herself with the uncouth adorations of the...
Page 321 - So much the rather thou, celestial Light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers Irradiate ; there plant eyes, all mist from thence Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell Of things invisible to mortal sight.
Page 103 - Johnson had always a metaphysic passion for one princess or other: first, the rustic Lucy Porter, before he married her nauseous mother; next, the handsome, but haughty, Molly Aston; next, the sublimated, methodistic, Hill Boothby, who read her bible in Hebrew; and, lastly, the more charming Mrs. Thrale, with the beauty of the first, the learning of the second, and with more worth than a bushel of such sinners and such saints. It is ridiculously diverting to see the old elephant forsaking his nature...
Page 303 - The lily and rose, that neither sowed nor spun. What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, Of Attic taste, with wine, whence we may rise. To hear the lute well touched, or artful voice Warble immortal notes and Tuscan air ? He who of those delights can judge, and spare To interpose them oft, is not unwise.
Page 103 - This last and long-enduring passion for Mrs. Thrale was, however, composed equally, perhaps, of cupboard love, Platonic love, and vanity tickled and gratified, from morn to night, by incessant homage. The two first ingredients are certainly oddly heterogeneous ; but Johnson, in religion and politics, in love and in hatred, was composed of such opposite and contradictory materials, as never before met in the human mind. This is the reason why folk are never weary of talking, reading, and writing about...
Page 58 - Shocked at the unfeeling rudeness he thus recorded of himself, I replied, that I was surprised any person should obtrude their writings upon his attention; adding, that if I could write as well as Milton or Gray, I should think the best fate to be desired for my compositions was exemption from his notice. I expected a sharp sarcasm in return, but he only rolled his large head in silence. Johnson told me once, " he would hang a dog that read the ' Lycidas