...of poetry ; except among the French, whose verse, where the thought does not support it, differs hi nothing from prose. Our poetry, on the contrary, has...almost every one that has written has added something. In truth, Shakespeare's language is one of his principal beauties; and he has no less advantage over...

...1 " The language of the age is never the language of poetry, except among the French, whose verse, where the thought or image does not support it, differs in nothing from prose." (Gray to West.) 2 Diderot and Rousseau, however, thought their language unfit for poetry, and Voltaire...

...r~ what Gray says to West (April, 1742), that the verse of the French — he means as to diction — where the thought or imag^e does not support it, differs in nothing from prose. It is significant that D'Alembert speaks incidentally of the great interests which may justify action...

...of the age is never the language of poetry ; except among the French, whose verse, where the thought does not support it, differs in nothing from prose....almost every one that has written has added something. In truth, Shakespeare's language is one of his principal beauties ; and he has no less advantage over...

...language of the age,' Gray wrote, ' is never the language of poetry; except among the French, whose verse, where the thought or image does not support it, differs in nothing from prose.' Gray's Letters, i. 97. [See Appendix AA «. I , p. 444.] 'Gray was at the head of those who, by their...

...say : The language of the age is never the language of poetry except among the French, whose verse, where the thought or image does not support it, differs in nothing from prose. Onr poetry, on the contrary, has a language peculiar to itself; to which almost every one, that has...

...1758. "The language of the age is never the language of poetry, except among the French, whose verse, where the thought or image does not support it, differs...derivatives, nay, sometimes words of their own composition or invention."—Letter to West, April, 1742. "Extreme conciseness of expression, yet pure, perspicuous,...

...poetry; except among the French, whose verse where the thought or image does not support it, differs nothing from prose. Our poetry, on the contrary, has a language peculiar to itself; to which almost everyone, that has written, has added something by enriching it with foreign idioms and derivative:...

...say : the language of the age is never the language of poetry ; except among the French, whose verse, where the thought or image does not support it, differs...sometimes words of their own composition or invention. Shakespear and Milton have been great creators this way ; and no one more licentious than Pope or Dryden,...

...that "the language of the age is never the language of poetry; except among the French, whose verse, where the thought or image does not support it, differs in nothing from prose." Further on in the same letter he pays a tribute to the creative genius of Shakespeare and Milton, manifested...