Record Number: 21036
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Mrs. Thrale disputed with him on the merit of Prior. He attacked him powerfully ; said he wrote of love like a man who had never felt it: his love verses were college verses; and he repeated the song "Alexis shunn'd his fellow swains," &c. in so ludicrous a manner, as to make us all wonder how any one could have been pleased with such fantastical stuff. Mrs. Thrale stood to her gun with great courage, in defence of amorons ditties, which Johnson despised, till he at last silenced her by saying, "My dear Lady, talk no more of this. Nonsense can be defended but by nonsense." Mrs. Thrale then praised Garrick's talents for light gay poetry ; and, as a specimen, repeated his song in "Florizel and Perdita," and dwelt with peculiar pleasure on this line: "I'd smile with the simple, and feed with the poor."'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 6 Oct 1769
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:18 Sep 1709
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:writer
Religion:Anglican
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Alexis shunn'd his fellow swains
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Unknown
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:21036
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R.W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:408
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 408, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21036, accessed: 17 August 2024
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.