...unrivalled stateliness, writes as follows : " The poet of whose works I have undertaken the revision may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit." The whirligig of time has brought in his revenges. The Doctor himself has been dead his century. He...

...unrivalled stateliness, writes as follows: " The poet of whose works I have undertaken the revision may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit." The whirligig of time has brought in his revenges. The Doctor himself has been dead his century. He...

...what is most considered is best understood. The Poet, of whose works I have undertaken the revision, may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...privilege of established fame and prescriptive veneration, t He has long outlived his century, the term com- ; monly fixea as the test of literary merit. Whatever...

...unrivalled stateliness of his, writes as follows: "The poet of whose works I have undertaken the revision may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit." The whirligig of time has brought in his revenges. The doctor himself has been dead his century. He...

...PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE (selections)1 1765 . . . The poet of whose works I have undertaken the revision may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient and claim the privilege of an established fame and prescriptive veneration. He has long outlived his century, the term commonly...

...From the "Preface" to Shakespeare14 . . . The poet of whose works I have undertaken the revision15 may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...merriment or motive of sorrow, which the modes of artificial16 life afforded him, now only obscure the scenes which they once illuminated. The effects...

...long tested and long approved. Consequently, 'The poet, of whose works I have undertaken the revision, may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...the privilege of established fame and prescriptive veneration.'77 Yet Johnson's project for the vernacular was, in its own terms, not a success. Arthur...

...what is most considered is best understood. The Poet, of whose works I have undertaken the revision, may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient,...customs, or temporary opinions, have for many years been lost;1 and every topick of merriment or motive of sorrow, which the modes of artificial life afforded...

...longer a near contemporary but an honored figure from the almost distant past. In the words of Johnson, "he has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit" and thus "may begin to assume the dignity of an ancient."4 Attaining the rank of "ancient" placed Shakespeare...

...command a status as an ancient, not a modern: "The Poet, of whose works I have undertaken the revision, may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient...of established fame and prescriptive veneration," 659. By characterizing Shakespeare as a "Poet," rather than a playwright, Johnson is also moving to...