The Critics of Doctor Johnson's School
Lo! modern Critics emulously dareApe the great Despot; throw in pompous toneAnd massy words their true no meaning down!But while their envious eyes on Genius glare,While axioms false assiduously they squareIn arrogant antithesis, a frownLours on the brow of Justice, to disownThe kindred malice with its mimic air.Spirit of Common Sense! must we endureThe incrustation hard without the gem?Find in th' Anana's rind the wilding sour,The Oak's rough knots on every Osier's stem?The dark contortions of the Sybil bear,Whose inspirations never meet our ear?
Words in this poem
- emulously adv.
- In an emulous manner.
- massy a.
- Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- wilding a.
- Not tame, domesticated, or cultivated; wild.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Critics of Doctor Johnson's School is in the public domain. This text is taken from Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace, Project Gutenberg ebook #27663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anna Seward, The Critics of Doctor Johnson's School, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/the-critics-of-doctor-johnson-s-school.html, id L09812.
Form and metre
The Critics of Doctor Johnson's School is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEFGG dareA · toneB · downA · glareB · squareC · frownD · disownC · airD · endureE · gemF · sourE · stemF · bearG · earG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lo! modern Critics emulously dare | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘· |
| Ape the great Despot; throw in pompous tone | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And massy words their true no meaning down! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| But while their envious eyes on Genius glare, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While axioms false assiduously they square | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| In arrogant antithesis, a frown | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘˘·· |
| Lours on the brow of Justice, to disown | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The kindred malice with its mimic air. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Spirit of Common Sense! must we endure | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| The incrustation hard without the gem? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Find in th' Anana's rind the wilding sour, | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The Oak's rough knots on every Osier's stem? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The dark contortions of the Sybil bear, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Whose inspirations never meet our ear? | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.