Tatti Master
International Referred Research Journal, October, 2011. ISSN - 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954;VoL.III *ISSUE -33
Research Paper- English
A Critical Analysis of Dr. Johnson’s ‘London’ (1738) and ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes’ (1749)
* Asst. Prof. Harish Subhash Ghodekar
October , 2011
* Dept. of English, Shri P.D. Jain Arts Sr. College, Ansing.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the dominant literary figure of his age. Dr. Johnson was the greatest man of letters between Pope and Wordsworth, born in Lichfield in 1709, “Poet, critic, essayist, journalist, editor, and great literary personality, Johnson was one of the professional men of letters in England”.1
It was in 1737, Johnson went to London and settled there. He faced financial problems, but never said a word about it in his later life. His literary career in
London began with miscellaneous writing for Edward
Cave, the publisher of “The Gentleman’s Magazine”.
“Meanwhile he was occupied for eight years
(1747-1755) by an immense task - ‘A Dictionary of the
English Language’, in which he undertook not only to define, but also to illustrate his definitions by quotation taken from the whole range of English Literature”.2
His early translations, miscellaneous poetry, criticism, essays, editorship of ‘The Rambler’ and after all his ‘Dictionary’ all he contributed to the English
Literature have made to regard him as a literary dictator of the age.
‘London’ belongs to the preceeding generation. It is didactic and remarkable for its closed couplet. It is best known for its rhetorical style and soon became popular and found a large number of readers.
Johnson’s poem ‘London’ shows a power and a control in the couplet that had not been seen since Pope, though the verse is essentially different from Pope.
The use of blank verse greatly increased during the age of Johnson. Both Johnson and Goldsmith were strong conservatives in literary theory. Talking about Jonnson’s affilition to Pope, Hugh
Research Paper- English
A Critical Analysis of Dr. Johnson’s ‘London’ (1738) and ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes’ (1749)
* Asst. Prof. Harish Subhash Ghodekar
October , 2011
* Dept. of English, Shri P.D. Jain Arts Sr. College, Ansing.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the dominant literary figure of his age. Dr. Johnson was the greatest man of letters between Pope and Wordsworth, born in Lichfield in 1709, “Poet, critic, essayist, journalist, editor, and great literary personality, Johnson was one of the professional men of letters in England”.1
It was in 1737, Johnson went to London and settled there. He faced financial problems, but never said a word about it in his later life. His literary career in
London began with miscellaneous writing for Edward
Cave, the publisher of “The Gentleman’s Magazine”.
“Meanwhile he was occupied for eight years
(1747-1755) by an immense task - ‘A Dictionary of the
English Language’, in which he undertook not only to define, but also to illustrate his definitions by quotation taken from the whole range of English Literature”.2
His early translations, miscellaneous poetry, criticism, essays, editorship of ‘The Rambler’ and after all his ‘Dictionary’ all he contributed to the English
Literature have made to regard him as a literary dictator of the age.
‘London’ belongs to the preceeding generation. It is didactic and remarkable for its closed couplet. It is best known for its rhetorical style and soon became popular and found a large number of readers.
Johnson’s poem ‘London’ shows a power and a control in the couplet that had not been seen since Pope, though the verse is essentially different from Pope.
The use of blank verse greatly increased during the age of Johnson. Both Johnson and Goldsmith were strong conservatives in literary theory. Talking about Jonnson’s affilition to Pope, Hugh