Wit and Humour, Selected from the English Poets: With an Illustrative Essay and Critical CommentsNorwood Editions, 1846 - 332 pages |
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Page 9
... fool in Lear are the sighs of knowledge . But as far as Wit and Humour affect us on their own accounts , or unmodi- fied by graver considerations , laughter is their usual result and happy ratification . The nature of Wit , therefore ...
... fool in Lear are the sighs of knowledge . But as far as Wit and Humour affect us on their own accounts , or unmodi- fied by graver considerations , laughter is their usual result and happy ratification . The nature of Wit , therefore ...
Page 49
... fool , and sot . A great prose wit , Arbuthnot ( who , by the way , left some interesting serious verses on the subject of Self - Knowledge , which are to be found in the same D Collection ) , tells a friend in a letter , ON WIT AND ...
... fool , and sot . A great prose wit , Arbuthnot ( who , by the way , left some interesting serious verses on the subject of Self - Knowledge , which are to be found in the same D Collection ) , tells a friend in a letter , ON WIT AND ...
Page 53
... fool's pun upon Archbishop Laud was a good one : - Great praise to God , and little Laud to the devil . Good Macaronic verses are laughable from the combination of the familiar and unfamiliar in the mixture of the two languages ...
... fool's pun upon Archbishop Laud was a good one : - Great praise to God , and little Laud to the devil . Good Macaronic verses are laughable from the combination of the familiar and unfamiliar in the mixture of the two languages ...
Page 124
... fools of Shakspeare are among the wisest of men . They talk Æsop and Solomon in every jest . Yet they amuse as much as they instruct us . The braggart Parolles , whose name signifies words , as though he spoke nothing else , scarcely ...
... fools of Shakspeare are among the wisest of men . They talk Æsop and Solomon in every jest . Yet they amuse as much as they instruct us . The braggart Parolles , whose name signifies words , as though he spoke nothing else , scarcely ...
Page 131
... fool , Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behaviour : And , to be noted for a merry man , He'll woo a thousand , ' point the day of marriage , Make friends invite , yes , and proclaim the banns ; Yet never means to wed where he hath woo'd ...
... fool , Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behaviour : And , to be noted for a merry man , He'll woo a thousand , ' point the day of marriage , Make friends invite , yes , and proclaim the banns ; Yet never means to wed where he hath woo'd ...
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Common terms and phrases
animal spirits Apho APHOBUS Aristophanes Bacurius Ben Jonson Bessus brother call'd captain character Charles Lamb Chaucer Colax comedy Corb Corv courtepy courtier cried Dean Deil devil Doctor doth duke exquisite extremes meet eyes fairy Falstaff fancy fear fool Friar Gent gentlemen give grace hath hear heart Heaven hire honour horse Hudibras Igno Jaques Kate Kath KATHARINA kick'd king Lady laugh laughter lord Macaronic madam master mind mock-heroic Molière Mosca nature never night Panurge passage PETRUCHIO poem poet poetry poor pray quod quoth Rabelais racter rhymes satire servant Shakspeare Sompnour soul spleen summoner sure Swift sylph Tartuffe tell thee ther things thou thought twelf Uncle Toby unto valiant verse Volp Volpone whan wife Wit and Humour word write
Popular passages
Page 341 - Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat, To persuade Tommy Townshend* to lend him a vote ; Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, And thought of convincing, while they thought of -dining. Though equal to all things, for all things unfit: Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit ; For a patriot, too cool ; for a drudge, disobedient ; And too fond of the right, to pursue the expedient. In short, 'twas his fate, unemployed or in place, sir, To eat mutton cold,...
Page 268 - Blest madman, who could every hour employ With something new to wish or to enjoy...
Page 284 - The rest the winds dispers'd in empty air. But now secure the painted vessel glides, The sunbeams trembling on the floating tides ; While melting music steals upon the sky, And soften'd sounds along the waters die : Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play, Belinda smil'd, and all the world was gay. All but the sylph — with careful thoughts opprest, Th' impending woe sat heavy on his breast.
Page 287 - Ah cease, rash youth ! desist ere 'tis too late, Fear the just gods, and think of Scylla's fate! Chang'd to a bird, and sent to flit in air, She dearly pays for Nisus' injur'd hair ! But when to mischief mortals bend their will, How soon they find fit instruments of ill ! Just then, Clarissa drew with tempting grace A...
Page 263 - Shadwell alone of all my sons is he Who stands confirmed in full stupidity. The rest to some faint meaning make pretence, But Shadwell never deviates into sense.
Page 5 - For, wit lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy...
Page 288 - T' inclose the lock ; now joins it, to divide. Ev'n then, before the fatal engine clos'd, A wretched sylph too fondly interpos'd ; Fate urg'd the shears, and cut the sylph in twain, (But airy substance soon unites again) The meeting points the sacred hair dissever From the fair head, for ever, and for ever ! Then flash'd the living lightning from her eyes, • And screams of horror rend th
Page 343 - He cherish'd his friend, and he relish'da bumper ; Yet one fault he had, and that one was a thumper. Perhaps you may ask if the man was a miser? I answer, no, no, for he always was wiser : Too courteous, perhaps, or obligingly flat?
Page 265 - Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high, He sought the storms ; but, for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit.
Page 301 - Unwater'd see the drooping sea-horse mourn, And swallows roost in Nilus' dusty urn. My lord advances with majestic mien, Smit with the mighty pleasure to be seen : But soft — by regular approach — not yet — First...