...the retort about "many men, many women, and many children." "A man," he said, on another occasion, " might write such stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to it." The precise point, however, upon which he rested his case, was the tangible one of the inability of...

...Nature's poetry. Old Samuel Johnson's stern, clear sense saw into the very heart of this subject when he said, " Sir, a man might write such stuff" for ever if he would but abandon his mind to it." It is abandonment, throwing the reins on the horse's neck, which makes...

...could be made to arrange themselves in a thousand different shapes. As Dr. Johnson said of Ossian : " Sir, a man might write such stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to if." 1 Leaving these aside there remain those poems about which there can be no dispute ; exquisite...

...Nature's poetry. Old Samuel Johnson's stern, clear sense saw into the very heart of this subject when he said, " Sir, a man might write such stuff for ever if he would but abandon his mind to it." It is abandonment, throwing the reins on the horse's neck, which makes...

...enjoyment of hope, — the high superiority of rank, without the anxious cares of government, — and a great degree of power, both from natural influence...stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to it.' He said, 'A man should pass a part of his time with the laughers, by which means any thing ridiculous...

...abruptly, "Yes, sir, many men, many women, and many children." And to Sir Joshua Reynolds he exclaimed, " Sir, a man might write such stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to it." Yet these utterances are but as sparks struck from flint. Johnson's contempt is too emphatic; 1 The...

...again in a suggested criticism of Byron's own verse; and the no less famous dictum (The Life, 1783), "Sir, a man might write such stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to it," is twice applied to Wordsworth's poetry. In like fashion, Johnson's well-known letter to Macpherson...

...enjoyment of hope — the high superiority of rank, without the anxious care of government, — and a great degree of power, both from natural influence...stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to it." He said, " A man should pass a part of his time with the laughers, by which means anything ridiculous...

...only—the enjoyment "f hope—the high superiority of rank, without the anxious care of government,— ind a great degree of power, both from natural influence wisely used, and from the suiguine expectations of those who look forward to the chance of future favour. Sir Joshua Reynolds...

...Why, sir," said Dr. 1 LetUrs o/7). Hun". ],. 36. i /.WuWKnno, p. 213 ; Refarl, Ap|x 61. Johnson, " a man might write such stuff' for ever if he would abandon his mind to it," and in spite of Boswell's patriotic protests the Literary Club would treat Ossian contemptuously. To...