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Critical Essays on Some of the Poems of Several English Poets
Critical Essays on Some of the Poems of Several English Poets Author:John Scott Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ESSAY III. On Pope's Windsor Forest, COOPER'S-HILL has been generally efteemed the parent of Windfor-Foreft; and Denham confe- quently an original, Pope an i... more »mitator. Originality in poetical compofition has been much too indifcriminately applauded. Priority of production may perhaps be allowed to add value, where all other circumftances are equal; but the query, whether a mere hint be preferable to a complete defign, a rude outline to a finifhed picture, is a query which will be anfwered in the E affirmative, affirmative, only from the mouth of ignorance or partiality. Denham happened to think of celebrating a particular place in verfe, Pope might not otherwife have thought of doing it; but if Denham wrote a bad poem, and Pope a fine one, to refufe precedence to the latter, would be flagrant injuftice. Pope indeed was fo little obliged to his predeceffor, that thofe parts of the Windfor Foreft, in which he adopted his manner, are the very parts that degrade it. Windfor Foreft, the author's age when it was written confidered, is really a great performance; it has much beautiful defcription, and mufical ver- fification, but is not without defects. Dr. Warton has juftly obferved, that it has too little matter peculiar to its fub- ject. The digreffion on the Norman tyranny, the detail of Rural fports, and the fpeech of father Thames, employ a confiderableconfiderable portion of the poem; but they are extraneous parts, that might have fuited as well in another work. The firft fix lines propofe the fubject, and compliment the author's friend, Granville Lord Lanfdown. They are Succeeded by thefe : The groves of Eden, vanifh'd now fb long, Live in defcription and look green in fong : Thefe, were my breaft infpir'd with equaiJJamet Like them in beauty, fhould be like in f...« less