doned all thought of pursuing further his studies in divinity. In the succeeding four years appeared Summer, Spring, and Autumn, following the same plan, subject, and form; and in 1730 the four were collected in one volume called The Seasons. Later Life. Thomson then secured a position as travelling tutor to a nobleman's son, and spent something more than a year on the Continent. Neither this nor any subsequent outward experience of his life, it appears, had any important influence on his poetry. He held office under the government for a time, enjoyed for ten years a pension from the Prince of Wales, and in other ways profited by the favor of great folk. In 1736 he took up residence in Richmond, a suburb of London about a mile from Twickenham, where he made his home until his death. A close friendship between Pope and Thomson grew up, and the great man appreciated his neighbor's genius thoroughly. Death. Thomson was buried in Richmond Church. Another Richmond poet, William Collins, wrote a noteworthy Ode on the Death of Thomson, beginning: "In yonder grave a druid lies," and containing, among many memorable lines, these: "The genial meads, assigned to bless Thy life, shall mourn thy early doom; Fourteen years after the " druid's death a monument to him was erected in Westminster Abbey. Although Thomson wrote several dramas, a long patriotic poem called Liberty, and a few minor poems, his fame rests on two productions - The Seasons, and The Castle of Richm Of The S ar to ript "The -The C be call author, w generally me acu.ge porm is Spenser;" Stan star atlete w empleted it has und immortali portions, in the co to one of great signi accepted Thomso forerunner of the movement in poetry which half a century later announced its arrival with the writings of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. numerous. THE AGE OF JOHNSON Although the name of Samuel Johnson stands out conspicuously in English literature between 1744 and 1798, he wielded no such influence as did Pope. The reasons are In the first place, Johnson was essentially a conservative, had nothing new or better to offer the age, and the age was beginning to weary of things that had been the glory of the previous period. In the second place, the wave of Romanticism was too strong to be stemmed by any man's influence, and Johnson lacked qualifications necesand this is sary to ride on its crest. In the third place by much the weightiest reason-Johnson was emphatically "the typical Englishman and whole-heartedly English, among our men of letters," while the tendencies of his time were to make English literature European. To this last point we must return later. 1 Johnson's Acceptance of Augustan Standards. So far as Johnson's influence counted at all, it counted in favor of maintaining Augustan standards. His verse is in the heroic couplet; fear of his disapproval probably led Goldsmith to adopt the couplet for his great descriptive poems, for which it was but ill suited. The titles of Johnson's poems London, and The Vanity of Human Wishes - indicate his entire acquiescence in the Augustans' choice of subjects. He undertook to revive the periodical essay, and was followed by Goldsmith. He, like Pope (and others whom it 1 At this point the student may well review pages 135-139. as not s Flowing rh plea of the Ill |