...wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth : if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To...imitations, by traditional imagery, and hereditary similes, by readiness of rhyme, and volubility of syllables. " In perusing the works of this race of...

...wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth: if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To...and think. No man could be born a metaphysical poet, i. Boston, Atheiueum Press, 1899; pp. xxiv, xxv. 242 DOCTOR JOHNSON nor assume the dignity of a writer...

...world to grasp a little more of its own meaning. At its worst, as Johnson wrote, ' to write on 12* their plan it was at least necessary to read and think. No man could assume the dignity of a writer by descriptions copied from descriptions, by imitations borrowed from...

...live in this age " the highest pleasure they are capable of " by — the words are Johnson's — " descriptions copied from descriptions, by imitations...imitations, by traditional imagery and hereditary similes, by readiness of rhyme and volubility of syllables." In reflecting on another of the points...

...wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth : if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To...the dignity of a writer, by descriptions copied from descrip1 Arnold, it must be admitted, gives us often the impression of seeing the masters, whom he...

...peculiarities of attitude and of style have a specific value. It is not only that, as Dr Johnson said, ' to write on their plan it was at least necessary to read and think', it is perhaps even more important that it was necessary to connect, and that the same difficult achievement...

...may think so too. •Dr. Johnson admits that ' no man could be born a metaphysical poet,' and that ' to write on their plan it was at least necessary to read and think.' It certainly required learning as well as wit to embody as in the above poem the quintessence of the...

...wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth: if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. To...imitations, by traditional imagery and hereditary similes, by readiness of rhyme, and volubility of syllables. Great poetry for Johnson required both...

...sonneteers it can be said, as Johnson said of the "metaphysical" poets of the seventeenth century, that "to write on their plan it was at least necessary to read and think." Indeed, the "conceit" of the Petrarchan sonneteer is not basically different from that of the metaphysical...

...erudite obscurity, metaphorical extravagance and cerebral corrugation. But, as Doctor Johnson conceded, 'to write on their plan, it was at least necessary to read and think' (the italics are mine). In the tradition established by Donne it was assumed that a poet should be...