Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Epochs of English Literature, Vol. 7: The Johnson Epoch
An Age of Prose - Hitherto our Epochs have always taken their names from the great poets who have dominated the literary world for the time being. In the previous volume we saw, truly, that the essayist, Addison, divided the kingdom with Pope, the poet. Here, too, the foremost characters, Johnson and Goldsmith, wrote poetry as well as prose. Poetry, unquestionably the senior branch Of the service Of letters, still holds its prior right to fame, though in this particular Epoch prose bears the palm both for variety and excellence. The Drama, now for the second time reaching greatness in Goldsmith and R. B. Sheridan, is a prose drama. In this age, for the first and last time, Oratory becomes a notable branch Of English literature in the hands Of Sheridan, Burke, and Grattan, not to mention Fox and Pitt. This age, also, witnesses the vigorous birth Of another branch Of Prose, namely, the Novel, with such writers as Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, and Goldsmith. In Hume, Robertson, and, above all Gibbon, the science of History made a real contribution to prose literature. The Essay, in Dr. Johnson's Rambler, continues its importance from the last Epoch. Thus, in a word, we have five great divisions Of Prose, all vigorously in action. It is not to be wondered if Poetry is suffering an eclipse under all this brilliance. In our last Epoch we found. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
