'If a man is to write A Panegyrick, he may keep vices out of sight; but if he professes to write A Life, he must represent it really as it was.'

In the last of his major writings, Samuel Johnson looked back over the previous two centuries of English Literature in order to describe the personalities as well as the achievements of the leading English poets. The major Lives - of Milton, Dryden, Swift, and Pope - are memorable cameos of the life of writing in which Johnson is as attentive to human frailty as to literary prowess. The shorter Lives preserve some of Johnson's most piercing, critical judgements. Unsentimental, opinionated, and quotable, The Lives of the Poets continues to influence the reputations of the writers concerned. It is one of the greatest works of English criticism, but also one of the most humanly diverting.

This selection of the Lives of ten of the most important poets draws its text from Roger Lonsdale's authoritative complete edition.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

• We started tracking this book on March 10, 2013.
• This book was $7.55 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 39 times in the past 4,356 days.
• The current price of this book is $7.99 last checked 4 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was $7.55 last reached on March 10, 2013.
• This book has been $7.55 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $16.99 last reached on March 29, 2022.
• This book has been $16.99 7 times since we started tracking it.

• Literature & Fiction

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• File Size: 4,875 KB