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 4
... things equally comprehensive and rational : nor had Arif- totle , in laying down the philofophy of the art , any thing more to do , than to trace out the principles of his contrivance . What the great critic has left on this fubject ...
... things equally comprehensive and rational : nor had Arif- totle , in laying down the philofophy of the art , any thing more to do , than to trace out the principles of his contrivance . What the great critic has left on this fubject ...
Page 8
... thing attended to in its com- position must have been , to give it charms fuf- ficient to engage the ear and captivate the heart of an unthinking audience . In latter times , the true poet , though in chufing materials he never left ...
... thing attended to in its com- position must have been , to give it charms fuf- ficient to engage the ear and captivate the heart of an unthinking audience . In latter times , the true poet , though in chufing materials he never left ...
Page 17
... thing that deferved approbation , he had . learned it all from Dryden . Critics have often stated a comparison between Dryden and Pope , as poets of the fame order , and who differed only in degree of merit . But , in my opinion , the ...
... thing that deferved approbation , he had . learned it all from Dryden . Critics have often stated a comparison between Dryden and Pope , as poets of the fame order , and who differed only in degree of merit . But , in my opinion , the ...
Page 25
... thing which affects not his mo- ral part , fhould be laftingly and generally agree- able . We fympathize with the pleasure one takes in a feast , where there is friendship , and an in- terchange of good offices ; but not with the fa ...
... thing which affects not his mo- ral part , fhould be laftingly and generally agree- able . We fympathize with the pleasure one takes in a feast , where there is friendship , and an in- terchange of good offices ; but not with the fa ...
Page 31
... things natural , as opposed to un- natural ? Monstrous fights please but for a mo- ment , if they please at all ; for ... thing is as it ought to be , fuitable to our own tafte , and congenial with our own conftitu- tion . Think , with ...
... things natural , as opposed to un- natural ? Monstrous fights please but for a mo- ment , if they please at all ; for ... thing is as it ought to be , fuitable to our own tafte , and congenial with our own conftitu- tion . Think , with ...
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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...