The British poets, including translations, Volume 131822 |
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Page 5
... reason to sus- pect that his father was a sectary . Whoever he was , he died before the birth of his son , and consequently left him to the care of his mother ; whom Wood re- presents as struggling earnestly to procure him a literary ...
... reason to sus- pect that his father was a sectary . Whoever he was , he died before the birth of his son , and consequently left him to the care of his mother ; whom Wood re- presents as struggling earnestly to procure him a literary ...
Page 13
... reason to think that Cowley promised little . It does not appear that his compliance gained him confidence enough to be trusted without security , for the bond of his bail was never cancelled ; nor that it made him think himself secure ...
... reason to think that Cowley promised little . It does not appear that his compliance gained him confidence enough to be trusted without security , for the bond of his bail was never cancelled ; nor that it made him think himself secure ...
Page 15
... reason : it certainly has , in a very great de- gree , the power of fixing attention , and exciting mer- riment . From the charge of disaffection he excul- pates himself in his preface , by observing how un- likely it is that , having ...
... reason : it certainly has , in a very great de- gree , the power of fixing attention , and exciting mer- riment . From the charge of disaffection he excul- pates himself in his preface , by observing how un- likely it is that , having ...
Page 16
... reasons that made him to follow the violent inclination of his own mind , which , in the greatest throng of his former business , had still called upon him , and represented to him the true de- lights of solitary studies , of temperate ...
... reasons that made him to follow the violent inclination of his own mind , which , in the greatest throng of his former business , had still called upon him , and represented to him the true de- lights of solitary studies , of temperate ...
Page 21
... reason but fancy behind them ; and produced combinations of confused magnificence , that not only could not be credited , but could not be imagined . Yet great labour , directed by great abilities , is never wholly lost : if they ...
... reason but fancy behind them ; and produced combinations of confused magnificence , that not only could not be credited , but could not be imagined . Yet great labour , directed by great abilities , is never wholly lost : if they ...
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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.