The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 04 - The Adventurer; The Idler by Samuel Johnson
page 59 of 559 (10%)
page 59 of 559 (10%)
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walls of Troy, could for many ages please only by splendid images and
swelling language, of which no man discovered the use or propriety, till Le Fevre, by showing on what occasion the Ode was written, changed wonder to rational delight. Many passages yet undoubtedly remain in the same author, which an exacter knowledge of the incidents of his time would clear from objections. Among these I have always numbered the following lines: _Aurum per medios ire satellites, Et perrumpere amat saxa, potentius Ictu fulmineo. Concidit auguris Argivi domus ob lucrum Demersa exitio. Diffidit urbium Portas vir Macedo, et subruit aemulos Regis muneribus_: Munera navium Saevos illaqueant duces. HOR. Lib. iii. Ode xvi. 9. Stronger than thunder's winged force, All-powerful gold can spread its course, Thro' watchful guards its passage make, And loves thro' solid walls to break: From gold the overwhelming woes That crush'd the Grecian augur rose: Philip with gold thro' cities broke, And rival monarchs felt his yoke; _Captains of ships to gold are slaves, Tho' fierce as their own winds and waves._ FRANCIS. The close of this passage, by which every reader is now disappointed and offended, was probably the delight of the Roman Court: it cannot be |
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