Essays: On Poetry and Music, as They Affect the Mind; on Laughter, and Ludicrous Composition; on the Usefulness of Classical Learning. By James Beattie, ... |
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Page 12
... genius . But I do not now enter into any controversy on the fubject : I speak of it with à view only to observe , that the propriety of the character affigned to the chorus is founded on that moral propensity above mentioned . For to in ...
... genius . But I do not now enter into any controversy on the fubject : I speak of it with à view only to observe , that the propriety of the character affigned to the chorus is founded on that moral propensity above mentioned . For to in ...
Page 13
... genius may have been united in the fame perfon ; but it may be doubted , whether corruption of heart and delicacy of tafte be at all compatible . Whenever a writer forgets himself so far , as to give us ground to fufpect him even of ...
... genius may have been united in the fame perfon ; but it may be doubted , whether corruption of heart and delicacy of tafte be at all compatible . Whenever a writer forgets himself so far , as to give us ground to fufpect him even of ...
Page 15
... genius . : There is no modern writer , whofe ftyle is more diftin- guishable . Energy and cafe are its chief characters . The former is owing to a happy choice of expreffions , equally em- phatical and plain the latter to a laudable ...
... genius . : There is no modern writer , whofe ftyle is more diftin- guishable . Energy and cafe are its chief characters . The former is owing to a happy choice of expreffions , equally em- phatical and plain the latter to a laudable ...
Page 16
... genius did not lead him to the fublime or pathetic . Good ftrokes of both may be found in him ; but they are momentary , and seem to be accidental . He is too witty for the one , and too familiar for the other . That he had no adequate ...
... genius did not lead him to the fublime or pathetic . Good ftrokes of both may be found in him ; but they are momentary , and seem to be accidental . He is too witty for the one , and too familiar for the other . That he had no adequate ...
Page 17
... genius ( I do not fay taste ) , feems to bear a closer affinity to Horace , than to any other ancient or modern author . For energy of words , vivacity of defcription , and appofite variety of numbers , his Feast of Alexander is fu ...
... genius ( I do not fay taste ) , feems to bear a closer affinity to Horace , than to any other ancient or modern author . For energy of words , vivacity of defcription , and appofite variety of numbers , his Feast of Alexander is fu ...
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Common terms and phrases
abfurd admiration Æneid affections agreeable alfo almoſt alſo ancient arifes beauty becauſe beſt cauſe character Cicero circumſtances compariſon compofition confequently confiftent converfation defcribe defcription defign Dido difplay diftinguiſhed Dryden effential emotions Engliſh Epic expreffion exprefs fable faid fame fancy faſhion fatire feem fenfe fenfibility fentiments fhall fhould fimilar firſt fome fomething fometimes fpeak fpeech ftill ftyle fubject fublime fuch fuitable fuperior fuppofed genius Georgic give Greek harmony hiftory himſelf Homer Hudibras human humour ideas Iliad imitation inftruction interefting itſelf language laughter leaſt lefs Loft ludicrous meaſure mind moft moral moſt mufic muft muſt nature neceffary numbers obferve object occafion paffage paffions perfons philofophers pleafing pleaſe pleaſure poem poet poetical poetry prefent profe purpoſe Quintilian racter raiſe reader reaſon refpect ridiculous ſeems ſome ſpeak ſtate ſtudy ſtyle ſuppoſed tafte thefe themſelves theſe thing thofe thoſe tion underſtanding uſe verf verſe Virgil whofe words writing
Popular passages
Page 218 - Heaven, with all his host Of rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring To set himself in glory...
Page 504 - Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts: others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention.
Page 248 - And, to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind. Methinks I should know you and know this man; Yet I am doubtful; for I am mainly ignorant What place this is, and all the skill I have Remembers not these garments; nor I know not Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me; For, as I am a man, I think this lady To be my child Cordelia.
Page 29 - I care not, Fortune, what you me deny : You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace ; You cannot shut the windows of the sky, Through which Aurora shows her brightening face; You cannot bar my constant feet to trace The woods and lawns, by living stream, at eve...
Page 13 - WHAT shall I do to be for ever known, And make the age to come my own ? I shall, like beasts or common people, die, Unless you write my elegy ; Whilst others great, by being born, are grown; Their mothers' labour, not their own. In this scale gold, in th' other fame does lie, The weight of that mounts this so high.
Page 30 - ... the murmur of the rivulet and in the uproar of the ocean, in the radiance of summer and gloom of winter, in the thunder of heaven and in the whisper of the breeze, he still finds something to rouse or to soothe his imagination, to draw forth his affections, or to employ his understanding.
Page 414 - Georgics ; but throw the former into ridicule, as in the Lutrin^ I think this may very well be accounted for ; laughter implies...
Page 354 - Cadwallador and Arthur, kings Full famous in romantic tale) when he, O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff, Upon a cargo of fam'd Cestrian cheese, High over-shadowing rides, with a design To vend his wares, or at th' Avonian mart, Or Maridunum, or the ancient town Yclep'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's stream Encircles Ariconium, fruitful soil!
Page 150 - ... it is very imperfectly, because we know not why: — the singer, by taking up the same air, and applying words to it, immediately translates the oration into our own language; then all uncertainty vanishes, the fancy is filled with determinate ideas...
Page 127 - When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth and many a maid, Dancing in the chequer'd shade...