Evidence: | 'Next day I dined with Johnson at Mr. Thrale's. He attacked Gray, calling him a "dull fellow." Boswell. "I understand he was reserved, and might appear dull in company; but surely he was not dull in poetry." Johnson. "Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull every where. He was dull in a new way, and that made many people think him GREAT. He was a mechanical poet." He then repeated some ludicrous lines, which have escaped my memory, and said, "Is not that GREAT, like his Odes?" Mrs. Thrale maintained that his Odes were melodious; upon which he exclaimed,
"Weave the warp, and weave the woof;"
I added, in a solemn tone,
"The winding sheet of Edward's race".
"[italics] There [end italics] is a good line."—"Ay (said he), and the next line is a good one," (pronouncing it contemptuously;)
"Give ample verge and room enough.—"
"No, sir, there are but two good stanzas in Gray's poetry, which are in his 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard.'" He then repeated the stanza,
"For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey," &c.
mistaking one word; for instead of [italics] precincts [end italics] he said [italics]confines [end italics]. He added, "The other stanza I forget".' |
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Century: | 1700-1799 | ||||||||||
Date: | Until: 28 Mar 1775 | ||||||||||
Country: | n/a | ||||||||||
Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
Place: | n/a | ||||||||||
Type of Experience (Reader): |
|
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
|
Reader: | James Boswell |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 29 Oct 1709 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | writer and lawyer |
Religion: | n/a |
Country of origin: | Scotland |
Country of experience: | n/a |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | Thomas Gray |
Title: | The Bard: A Pindaric Ode |
Genre: | Poetry |
Form of Text: | Print: Unknown |
Publication details: | n/a |
Provenance: | unknown |
Record ID: | 21509 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | James Boswell | |
Editor: | R.W. Chapman | |
Title: | Life of Johnson | |
Place of Publication: | Oxford | |
Date of Publication: | 1980 | |
Vol: | n/a | |
Page: | 600-01 | |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Citation: | James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 600-01, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=21509, accessed: 06 June 2023 |
Originally published 1791 |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)