Lives of the English Poets : Prior, Congreve, Blackmore, Pope — Story, Setting & Ideas

Johnson's Biographical Method

Johnson's method is evident from the first paragraphs of each life. He begins with origins, often uncertain or disputed, and moves through education, early influences, and key relationships. For Prior, he notes the uncle who 'sent him for some time to Dr. Busby, at Westminster' but then withdrew him, only for the Earl of Dorset to intervene. This narrative structure emphasizes the contingency of literary careers.

Johnson frequently inserts his own judgments, as when he remarks that Prior 'was perhaps willing enough to leave his birth unsettled, in hope, like Don Quixote, that the historian of his actions might find him some illustrious alliance.' Such asides reveal Johnson's wry perspective on the poet's self-fashioning.

The Centrality of Pope

The life of Pope dominates the volume, occupying more than two-thirds of the text. Johnson's treatment is notably detailed, covering Pope's translations, his collaborations, and his literary quarrels. The excerpts show Johnson describing Pope's financial arrangements for the Odyssey translation, including the number of subscribers (574) and copies (819), and the subsequent dispute with Lintot.

Johnson also recounts Pope's near-drowning when a coach overturned into water, the fragments of glass cutting two fingers 'so that he lost their use.' This physical detail grounds the biography in concrete events. Johnson's tone is often critical, as when he calls Pope's preface to the Miscellanies a 'ridiculous and romantic complaint' about literary theft.

Literary Quarrels and the Dunciad

Johnson devotes considerable space to Pope's satirical wars. He describes the Dunciad as an 'elaborate performance' in which Pope 'endeavoured to sink into contempt all the writers by whom he had been attacked.' Johnson notes that Pope placed Theobald 'at the head of the Dunces,' accusing him of ingratitude, though 'his real crime was supposed to be that of having revised'—the sentence breaks off in the excerpt, leaving the reader to infer the nature of Theobald's offense.

The account of Voltaire's visit to Pope is particularly vivid: Voltaire 'talked with so much grossness that Mrs. Pope was driven from the room.' Johnson reports that Pope discovered Voltaire was 'a spy for the Court' and 'never considered him as a man worthy of confidence.' These anecdotes illustrate Johnson's interest in the social dynamics of literary circles.

Johnson's Critical Voice

Throughout the lives, Johnson interjects his own assessments. Of Spence's criticism of Pope's Odyssey, Johnson writes that Spence 'thought what he thought rightly, and his remarks were recommended by his coolness and candour.' This praise is tempered by the observation that Spence's 'learning was not very great.' Johnson's balanced judgments reflect his role as both biographer and critic.

Johnson also comments on the sale of Pope's letters by Mrs. Thomas to Curll, which he presents as partial vindication of Pope's complaint about 'robberies committed upon authors.' The metaphor of 'a cat hunted for his musk' as 'the emblem of a wit winded by booksellers' is Johnson's own addition, showing his tendency to sharpen a point with a vivid comparison.

Readers approaching this volume should attend to Johnson's dual role as narrator and judge. His biographical sketches are not neutral records but arguments about literary merit and moral character. The disproportionate space given to Pope signals Johnson's conviction that Pope's versification was unmatched. The earlier lives of Prior, Congreve, and Blackmore serve as contrasts and context. Johnson's own voice—sometimes dry, sometimes cutting—is as much a subject as the poets themselves.

That rainy afternoon, Johnson’s Lives kept me company, his measured sympathy for Pope lingering long after I closed it. Later, idly drifting through another shelf, I found a slighter, warmer volume—Howells remembering old friends—and it felt like stepping from a formal portrait gallery into a lamplit parlor. My thoughts wandered to that evening, and to A Belated Guest (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance) — Inside the Classic, a quieter kind of company.