Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson was an 18th-century English poet, critic, and lexicographer. His poetry is known for its moral seriousness, classical restraint, and satirical insight into human folly. Biografía ↓Más ↓

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Samuel Johnson

On The Death Of Mr. Robert Levet, A Practiser In Physic

CONDEMN'D to Hope's delusive mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts or slow decline Our social comforts drop away. Well tried through many a varying year, See Levet to the grave descend, Officious, innocent, sincere, Of every friendless name the friend. Yet still he fills affection's eye, Obscurely wise and coarsely kind; Nor, letter'd Arrogance, deny Thy praise to merit unrefined. When fainting nature call'd for aid, And hov'ring death prepared the blow, His vig'rous remedy display'd The power of art without the show.

Biografía

Samuel Johnson was an 18th-century English poet, critic, and lexicographer, and a central figure of the Augustan literary era. His major poems, 'London' (1738) and 'The Vanity of Human Wishes' (1749), are imitations of Juvenal that use heroic couplets to satirize contemporary society and reflect on universal human frailties. Johnson’s poetry addresses themes such as the futility of ambition, the illusions of happiness, and the need for moral resilience. His style is marked by formal precision, balanced antitheses, and a grave, didactic tone. Beyond his poetry, he is renowned for his 'Dictionary of the English Language' (1755), his critical essays in 'The Rambler' and 'The Idler', and his influential 'Lives of the Poets'. Johnson’s literary authority shaped English taste and criticism for generations, making him one of the most important figures in English letters.

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