Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1858. Excerpt: ... improved, a minute account must be naturally desired; but curiosity must be contented with confused, imperfect, and sometimes improbable intelligence. Pope, finding little advantage from external help, resolved thenceforward to direct himself, and at twelve formed a plan of study, which he completed with little other incitement than the desire of excellence. His primary and principal purpose was to be a poet, with which his father accidentally concurred, by proposing subjects , and obliging him to correct his performances by many revisals; after which, the old gentleman, when he was satisfied, would say, "these are good rhymes." In his perusal of the English poets he soon distinguished the versification of Dryden, which he considered as the model to be studied, and was impressed with such veneration for his instructor, that he persuaded some friends to take him to the coffee-house which Dryden frequented, and pleased himself with having seen him. Dryden died May 1, 1701, some days before Pope was twelve; so early must he therefore have felt the power of harmony and the zeal of genius. Who does not wish that Dryden could have known the value of the homage that was paid him,, and foreseen the greatness of his young admirer? ,4 fja The earliest of Pope's productions is his "Ode on Solitude," written before he was twelve, in which there is nothing more than other forward boys have attained, and which is not equal to Cowley's performances at the same age. His time was now wholly spent in reading and writing. As he read the classics, he amused himself with translating them; and at fourteen made a version of the first book or "The Thebais," which, with some revision, he afterwards published. He must have been at this time, if he had no help, a considerable proficient in the Latin tongue. B...
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
*The* standard edition of Johnson's poetic biographies.,
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This review is from: Lives of the English Poets (Hardcover)
Samuel Johnson finished an illustrious literary career with a series of biographies of the major English poets up until his time. The series was initiated by bookpublishers, who were interested in preserving their copyrights by publishing new editions of each poet's works, with Johnson's prefaces. Eventually, the prefaces themselves were collected and printed separately from the poems.Johnson's effort was an attempt at establishing a canon for his day, and he hoped forever. Nowadays, we do not read all of these poets with the same enthusiasm that Johnson did, but his analyses of Milton, Pope, Dryden et al are frequently read to this day. His criticism is outstanding, and the attention which he brings to each poet will make you think twice before disregarding poets we have now forgotten. This specific edition is a reprint of the 1905 Oxford edition, edited by George Birkbeck Hill. Hill's editorial work on Boswell's Life Of Johnson is the edition typically cited in later works (any footnote citing a six volume Boswell is referring to Hill's effort) and his Johnson Miscellanies is a favorite collection of contemporaneous recollections of Johnson. He brings similar value to this edition of "The Lives Of The Poets." At least until such time as the Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson publishes The Lives Of The Poets, this will *remain* the standard edition.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More valued in its time than read in our own,
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This review is from: Lives of the English Poets (Hardcover)
The fifty- two lives written about were taken by Johnson to represent the best of English poetry. His prejudices express themselves often, and he makes egregious errors, for instance in panning Milton's Lycidas. But Johnson is a powerful figure often insightful , and usually interesting. The lives have been superseded in a basic sense by longer more scholarly studies, but they still have their readers, largely I expect, among graduate students of English literature.
2 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading for life of Savage.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Lives of the English Poets (Hardcover)
One poet reviewed in this book is Savage. He was a contemporary of Johnson. His career went from bad to worse. He spent too much time in coffee shops and not enough time writing. His friends supported him financially. It is an interesting story; it rings true; you could imagine someone nowadays writing a similiar life of say Jimi Hendrix.
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