The Poetry of John DrydenHarcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920 - 361 pages |
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Page 4
... better aware of what he needed to read than he . " Mere poets , " he wrote in the postcript to the Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco ( 1674 ) , “ are as sottish as mere drunkards are , who live in a continual mist ...
... better aware of what he needed to read than he . " Mere poets , " he wrote in the postcript to the Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco ( 1674 ) , “ are as sottish as mere drunkards are , who live in a continual mist ...
Page 32
... better than riddles , and , not only to the reader but also after a little time to the writer him- self , dark and troublesome . " That is , the poet should avoid congested and crabbed utterance , should choose his epithets sanely , and ...
... better than riddles , and , not only to the reader but also after a little time to the writer him- self , dark and troublesome . " That is , the poet should avoid congested and crabbed utterance , should choose his epithets sanely , and ...
Page 43
... better . In the early occasional poems there is no surpris- ing facility of phrase or illustration . In no piece did Dryden ever display a happy gift for turning up images . He speaks from time to time of difficul- ties encountered in ...
... better . In the early occasional poems there is no surpris- ing facility of phrase or illustration . In no piece did Dryden ever display a happy gift for turning up images . He speaks from time to time of difficul- ties encountered in ...
Page 44
... better to call it the work of a man who could never , by any possibility , write a certain kind of poetry — the luxuriant , splendid kind that is studded with significant allusions . No swarm of ideas has beset the imagination of Dry ...
... better to call it the work of a man who could never , by any possibility , write a certain kind of poetry — the luxuriant , splendid kind that is studded with significant allusions . No swarm of ideas has beset the imagination of Dry ...
Page 45
... better , draws upon Waller , that he proves once and for all that his career must lie another way . Cer- tain stanzas have been quoted ad nauseam . Many remain . On high - raised decks the haughty Belgians ride , Beneath whose shade our ...
... better , draws upon Waller , that he proves once and for all that his career must lie another way . Cer- tain stanzas have been quoted ad nauseam . Many remain . On high - raised decks the haughty Belgians ride , Beneath whose shade our ...
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Common terms and phrases
Absalom and Achitophel Anne Killigrew Annus Mirabilis Augustan Aureng-Zebe beauty began Ben Jonson blank verse cadences called Chaucer couplets Cowley criticism Davenant death dedication den's Dramatic Poesy Dryden elegy Elizabethan English poetry epistle Essay of Dramatic Fables French genius Greek harmony heroic couplet heroic plays Heroic Stanzas Hind Hobbes Homer Horace John Johnson Juvenal kind King Lady Latin learned lines literary logue Longinus Lucretius lyric Mac Flecknoe metrical Milton mind Miscellany Muse narrative nature never numbers Oldham Ovid Panther passage passion pieces Pindaric Plutarch poem poet poetic Pope Pope's praise preface prologues and epilogues prose ratiocinative readers Religio Laici Restoration rhyme satire seems sense Shadwell Shakespeare song soul sound speaking Spenser style sweet thee things thou thought tion translation triplet Troilus and Cressida versification Virgil Waller words writing wrote Zimri
Popular passages
Page 199 - Of these the false Achitophel was first, A name to all succeeding ages curst : For close designs and crooked counsels fit, Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit, Restless, unfixed in principles and place, In power unpleased, impatient of disgrace ; A fiery soul, which working out its way, Fretted the pigmy body to decay And o'cr-informed the tenement of clay.
Page 200 - In the first rank of these did Zimri stand ;* A man so various, that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome : Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts, and nothing long...
Page 201 - He laughed himself from court; then sought relief By forming parties, but could ne'er be chief; For, spite of him, the weight of business fell On Absalom, and wise Achitophel ; Thus, wicked but in will, of means bereft, He left not faction, but of that was left.
Page 253 - And, wondering, on their faces fell To worship that celestial sound. Less than a god they thought there could not dwell Within the hollow of that shell, That spoke so sweetly, and so well.
Page 158 - Farewell, too little and too lately known, Whom I began to think and call my own; For sure our souls were near allied, and thine Cast in the same poetic mould with mine.
Page 312 - The style of Dryden is capricious and varied ; that of Pope is cautious and uniform. Dryden obeys the motions of his own mind ; Pope constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid; Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation ; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe, and levelled by the roller.
Page 48 - tis all a cheat; Yet, fooled with hope, men favour the deceit; Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay: To-morrow's falser than the former day; Lies worse, and, while it says, we shall be blest With some new joys, cuts off what we possest.
Page 332 - For them the Ceylon diver held his breath, And went all naked to the hungry shark ; For them his ears gushed blood ; for them in death The seal on the cold ice with piteous bark Lay full of darts ; for them alone did seethe A thousand men in troubles wide and dark : Half-ignorant, they turned an easy wheel, That set sharp racks at work, to pinch and peel.
Page 259 - Bacchus' blessings are a treasure, Drinking is the soldier's pleasure : Rich the treasure, Sweet the pleasure, Sweet is pleasure after pain. Soothed with the sound the king grew vain; Fought all his battles o'er again, And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain!
Page 207 - Shadwell alone my perfect image bears, Mature in dulness from his tender years ; Shadwell alone of all my sons is he Who stands confirmed in full stupidity. The rest to some faint meaning make pretence, But Shadwell never deviates into sense.