The British poets, including translations, Volume 131822 |
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Page 12
... brought upon him , his bio- grapher has been very diligent to clear him , and in- deed it does not seem to have lessened his reputa- tion . His wish for retirement we can easily believe to be undissembled ; a man harassed in one king ...
... brought upon him , his bio- grapher has been very diligent to clear him , and in- deed it does not seem to have lessened his reputa- tion . His wish for retirement we can easily believe to be undissembled ; a man harassed in one king ...
Page 16
... brought , maliciously enough , together in some stanzas , written about that time , on the choice of a laureat ; a mode of satire , by which , since it was first introduced by Suckling , perhaps every generation of poets has been teazed ...
... brought , maliciously enough , together in some stanzas , written about that time , on the choice of a laureat ; a mode of satire , by which , since it was first introduced by Suckling , perhaps every generation of poets has been teazed ...
Page 26
... brought . Water and air he for the Tenor chose , Earth made the Base ; the Treble , flame arose . COWLEY . The tears of lovers are always of great poetical account ; but Donne has extended them into worlds . If the lines are not easily ...
... brought . Water and air he for the Tenor chose , Earth made the Base ; the Treble , flame arose . COWLEY . The tears of lovers are always of great poetical account ; but Donne has extended them into worlds . If the lines are not easily ...
Page 36
... of genius . To such a performance Suckling could have brought the gaiety , but not the knowledge ; Dryden could have supplied the knowledge , but not the gaiety . The verses to Davenant , which are vigorously be- gun 36 THE LIFE OF COWLEY .
... of genius . To such a performance Suckling could have brought the gaiety , but not the knowledge ; Dryden could have supplied the knowledge , but not the gaiety . The verses to Davenant , which are vigorously be- gun 36 THE LIFE OF COWLEY .
Page 49
... brought little that could reconcile impatience , or attract curiosity . Nothing can be more disgusting than a narrative spangled with conceits ; and con- ceits are all that the Davideis ' supplies . One of the great sources of poetical ...
... brought little that could reconcile impatience , or attract curiosity . Nothing can be more disgusting than a narrative spangled with conceits ; and con- ceits are all that the Davideis ' supplies . One of the great sources of poetical ...
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Common terms and phrases
ABRAHAM COWLEY Æneid Anacreon appear beauteous beauty birds play BISHOP OF LINCOLN bless'd blessed blood bold breast bright Charles Constantia Cowley Davideis death Deity delight divine Donne doth e'er earth eyes fair fame fate fear fire flame gentle give gold grief happy hast hath hear heart Heaven honour join'd king labour learned less light live lover methinks mighty mind mistress Muse Nature ne'er never night noble NORTHERN EXPEDITION numbers o'er Orinda peace Philetus Philocrates Pindar poems poesy poetical poetry poets praise prince rage sacred sad cypress scarce scorn shine sighs sing smiling bank soul spirit Sprat stars sure tears Tereus thee thine things Thisbe thou dost thought titular bishops twas twill verse vex'd Virgil virtue weep Whilst wise writ write
Popular passages
Page 34 - Our two souls, therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness beat. If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show To move, but doth if th
Page 185 - Thou dost drink, and dance, and sing, Happier than the happiest king! All the fields which thou dost see, All the plants belong to thee; All that summer hours produce, Fertile made with early juice. Man for thee does sow and plough; Farmer he, and landlord thou!
Page 242 - Through the soft ways of heaven, and air, and sea, Which open all their pores to thee, Like a clear river thou dost glide. And with thy living stream through the close channels slide. But...
Page 21 - Yet great labour, directed by great abilities, is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth; if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To write on their plan, it was at least necessary to read and think.
Page 140 - If I should tell the politic arts To take and keep men's hearts ; The letters, embassies, and spies, The frowns and smiles and flatteries, The quarrels, tears, and perjuries, (Numberless, nameless mysteries...
Page 23 - As the authors of this race were perhaps more desirous of being admired than understood, they sometimes drew their conceits from recesses of learning not very much frequented by common readers of poetry. Thus Cowley on Knowledge...
Page 21 - Nor was the sublime more within their reach than the pathetic ; for they never attempted that comprehension and expanse of thought which at once fills the whole mind, and of which the first effect is sudden astonishment, and the second rational admiration. Sublimity is produced by aggregation, and littleness by dispersion. Great thoughts are always general, and consist in positions not limited by exceptions, and in descriptions not descending to minuteness.
Page 20 - ... wrote rather as beholders than partakers of human nature; as beings looking upon good and evil, impassive and at leisure; as Epicurean deities, making remarks on the actions of men, and the vicissitudes of life, without interest and without emotion. Their courtship was void of fondness, and their lamentation of sorrow. Their wish was only to say what they hoped had been never said before.
Page 19 - Wit, like all other things, subject by their nature to the choice of man, has its changes and fashions, and, at different times, takes different forms. About the beginning of the seventeenth century, appeared a race of writers, that may be termed the metaphysical poets ; of whom in a criticism on the works of Cowley, it is not improper to give some account.
Page 31 - That prayer and labour should cooperate, are thus taught by Donne: In none but us are such mix'd engines found, As hands of double office: for the ground We till with them; and them to heaven we raise: Who prayerless labours, or, without this, prays, Doth but one half, that's none.