...Life of Cowley, said with his accustomed penetration, " Yet great labour, directed by great abilities, is never wholly lost; if they frequently threw away...plan it was at least necessary to read and think." It was a happy inspiration that led the "onlie begetters" of these two volumes to issue for the delectation...

...Let us hear the critic himself upon this latter point: "Yet great labour directed by great abilities is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away...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...

...combinations of confused magnificence that not only could not be credited but could not be imagined. Yet, if they frequently threw away their wit upon false...conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected troth : if their conceits were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. Such is Johnson's explanation...

...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...

...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...

...deny that there was something to be said in their favour. Great labour, directed by great ability, is never wholly lost ; if they frequently threw away...were far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage. ... If their greatness seldom elevates, their acuteness often surprises ; if the imagination is not...

...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...

...textual work. Not the least of its values lies in the learning and wit of its principal practitioners. 'To write on their plan, it was at least necessary to read and think.' Sce also D1SCOURSE, PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOANALYS1S. For a concise account sce DC Wood, 'An 1ntroduction...

...admiration of their readers, but their poetry was nonetheless interesting to.Johnson for other reasons: "if they frequently threw away their wit upon false...plan it was at least necessary to read and think." The ingenuity which might distract from an affecting poetical experience could nevertheless provide...