Fairfax, 1580.

His reputation rests on his version of Tasso's "Godfrey of Bouillon." It is written in the same stanza with the original, and combines fidelity to the sense of the author with harmo ny of versification.—Enc. Am.

$5 00, London.

Drummond, 1585.

'The sonnets of Drummond are polished and elegant, free from conceit and bad taste, in pure, unblemished English.-Hallam.

12mo, $1 50, London.

Beaumont and Fletcher, 1585 and 1576.

They were men of the most distinguished talents: " they hardly wanted anything but a more profound seriousness of mind, and that sagacity in art which observes a due measure in everything, to deserve a place beside the greatest dramatic poets of all nations."-Schlegel.

3 vols., 4to, $12 00.

Waller, 1605.

His verse is more polished and harmonious than that of any of the preceding or contemporary poets, but his compositions have a great deal of that quaintness and trifling witticism which was in fashion in his age, and he possesses no genius either for the sublime or pathetic.-Tytler.

4to, $275.

Fanshaw, 1607.

His poetry is far above mediocrity.—Enc. Am.

12mo, $1 50, London.

(See third part.)

Milton, 1608.

Cowley, 1618.

In his poems there is a redundancy of wit; yet many of his poetical pieces, where the subject restrained these faults, display the highest beauties.-Tytler.

2 vols. 8vo, $2 75.

Herrick, 1620.

The most amorous of our amorous poets. He has as much variety as the poetry of kisses can well have; but his love is in a slight degree that of sentiment; his mistress

es have lit.le to recommend them save their beauties, and none of these are omitted in his catalogues.-Hallam.

A dramatic writer, remembered for two comedies, the "Plain Dealer" and "The Country Wife:" the latter has probably never been surpassed.-Hallam.

For edition, see Congreve.

Lee, 1650.

A dramatic writer, who, in spite of his proverbial extravagance, is a man of poetical mind and some dramatic skill. -Hallam.

Otway, 1651.

The "Orphan" of Otway and his "Venice Preserved" have both a deep pathos, springing from the intense and unmerited distress of woman; both have a dramatic eloquence, rapid and flowing, and sometimes with very graceful, poetry. -Hallam.

2 vols. 8vo, $5 50.

Southern, 1660.

A dramatic writer, who deserves the praise of having first of any English writers denounced the traffic in slaves, and the cruelties of their West Indian bondage.-Hallam. 2 vols. 12mo, $2 50, London.

Prior, 1664.

As a poet his reputation has declined of late years, the humour in which he principally excels being overlooked on account of the character of his serious performances, which, although splendid and correct in diction, harmonious in versification, and copious in poetical imagery, fail in moving either the feelings or the fancy. His great art consists in telling a story with a degree of poetical ease and vivacity which perhaps never has been excelled.—Enc. Am.

2 vols. 8vo, $2 25.

Swift, 1667.

His style forms the most perfect example of easy familiarity that the language affords; but although admirable for its pureness, clearness, and simplicity, it exhibits none of the

glow of genius, its highest merit consisting in its extreme accuracy and precision.-Enc. Am.

2 vols. 12mo, $3 75.

Congreve, 1670.

A dramatic writer, who, more than any preceding writer among us, kept up the tone of a gentleman; his men of the world are profligate, but not coarse; he gave, in fact, a tone of refinement to the public taste which it never lost.-Hallam. Wycherley, Congreve, and other dramatic works, 1 vol. 8vo, $5 00, London.

Ambrose Philips, 1671.

The verses which he composed, not only to young ladies in the nursery, but to Walpole when minister of state, and which became known by the ludicrous appellation of namby-pamby, are easy and sprightly, but with a kind of infantile air which fixed upon them the above name.

Addison, 1672,

by a decent mediocrity of poetic language, rising occasionally to superior efforts, has deserved a high degree of praise. His celebrated tragedy of "Cato," equally remarkable for a correctness of plan, and a sustained elevation of style, was farther distinguished by the glow of its sentiments in favour of political liberty, and was equally applauded by both parties.-Aikin.

3 vols. 8vo, $5 50.

Rowe, 1673,

His principal efforts were in poetical translation, and his version of Lucan's "Pharsalia" has been placed among the greatest productions of English poetry.-Aikin.

2 vols. 12mo, $2 50, London.

Young, 1681.

(See third part.)

Pope, 1688.

(See third part.)

Gay, 1688.

His pictures of rural life were so extremely natural and amusing, and intermixed with circumstances so beautiful and touching, that his pastorals proved the most popular works of the kind in the language.-Aikin.

2 vols. 8vo, $2 00.

Thomson, 1700.

His poetical merit undoubtedly stands most conspicuous in his Seasons." Its diction is somewhat cumbrous and laboured, but energetic and expressive. Its versification does not denote a practised ear, but is seldom unpleasantly harsh. Upon the whole, no poem has been more, and more deservedly, popular.—Aikin.

2 vols. 12mo, $2 50.

Fielding, 1707.

As a dramatic writer he did not generally succeed; for, al though no man possessed a stronger feeling of the ridiculous, or executed detached scenes with greater humour, he took too little time to construct his dramas, with a view to plot and effective development.-Enc. Am.

8vo, $4 50.

Johnson, 1709.

No writer delivers moral maxims and dictatorial sentences with more force. He also excels in giving point to sarcasm, and magnificence to imagery and abstraction.-Enc. Am.

The deep and pathetic morality of the Vanity of Human Wishes (by Johnson) has often extracted tears from those whose eyes wander dry over pages professedly sentimental. -Walter Scott.

"I asked him," says James Ballantyne, speaking of W. Scott, "what was the poetry from which he derived most pleasure. He answered, Johnson's; that he had more pleasure in reading London and the Vanity of Human Wishes than any other poetical composition he could mention."

Lord Byron's Diary for 1821 contains the following entry: "Read Johnson's Vanity of Human Wishes. All the examples, and mode of giving them, sublime, as well as the latter part, with the exception of an occasional couplet. 'Tis a grand poem-and so true! true as the 10th of Juvenal himself." "Yet it is the cant of our day," adds Lockhart, "above all of its poetasters, that Johnson was no poet. To be sure, they say the same of Pope, and hint it occasionally even of Dryden."

Armstrong, 1709.

Of his "Art of Preserving Health" it may be affirmed that, of the class to which it belongs, scarcely any English performance can claim superior merit. Its topics are judiciously chosen from all those which can add grace or beauty to a difficult subject; and, as he was naturally gifted with a musical ear, his lines are scarcely ever harsh.-Aikin.

Shenstone, 1714.

His "School Mistress," written in Spenser's style, through the vein of benevolence and good sense, and the touches of the pathetic, by which this performance is characterized, it is rendered extremely pleasing, and he stands, perhaps, at the head of his competitors.-Aikin.

Garrick, 1716.

An actor and dramatic writer. As an actor, he has rarely been equalled for truth, nature, and variety and facility of expression. His literary talents were respectable. His principal piece, which he composed jointly with Colman, is the Clandestine Marriage.-Enc. Am.

2 vols. 12mo, $2 50.

Collins, 1720.

He must be acknowledged to possess imagination, sweetness, bold and figurative language. His numbers dwell on the ear, and easily fix themselves in the memory. His originality consists in his manner, in the highly figurative garb in which he clothes abstract ideas, in the felicity of his expressions, and his skill in imbodying ideal creations.-Aikin. 1 vol. 12mo, $137.

Akenside, 1721.

Respecting his poem "On the Pleasures of Imagination," it would be an injury to deny him the claims of an original writer, which he merited by the expansion of the plan of his prose original, and by enriching its illustrations from the stores of philosophy and poetry.-Aikin.

1 vol. 12mo, $1 25.

Home, 1724.

A dramatic writer. His "Douglas" became a stock piece. -Enc. Am.

Mason, 1725.

As a poet he excels more in lyric than in dramatic composition; he often exhibits a minute learning, which borders upon pedantry, and displays more of the artificial mechanism of poetry than of its genuine spirit. In all his productions he breathes the purest spirit of morality and the warmest zeal for liberty.-Edinb. Enc.

4 vols., $7 50.

(See third part.)

Goldsmith, 1729.