...what was generally spoken, was surpassed in both cases, although he added of the metaphysicals that 'they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth:...were farfetched, they were often worth the carriage' (Lives, vol. i, pp. 20-1). Even as he advocated a writing whose authority was of a communal, apparently...

...great lahour, directed hy great ahilities, is never wholly lost; if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck...at least necessary to read and think. No man could he horn a metaphysical poet, nor assume the dignity of a writer, hy descriptions copied from descriptions,...

...And though Johnson's admiration for the metaphysicals is severely qualified, he does conclude that "to write on their plan, it was at least necessary to read and think."'2 When John Donne compares two lovers to "stiff twin compasses"— to cite the standard example—...

...great abilities, its capacity to stimulate the reader to "recollection or inquiry," and its originality ("to write on their plan it was at least necessary to read and to think. No man could be born a metaphysical poet" [I, 11). That is, Johnson identifies Donne as having...

...Yet great labour directed bygreat abilities is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck out unexpected truth: if their conceits were far-fetcbed, they were often wortb the carríage.(..) If their greatness seldom elevates, their acuteness...

...Dr Johnson, 'was their whole endeavour.' He was not entirely hostile to these 'metaphysical' poets: 'to write on their plan it was at least necessary to read and think'. But his verdict was that they 'fail to give delight by their desire of exciting admiration'. He complained...

...his capacity to stimulate the reader to "recollection or inquiry" (para. 61), and his originality for "to write on their plan it was at least necessary...a writer by descriptions copied from descriptions" (para. 6o). Indeed, Donne is felt as having risen above the mediocre and merely traditional qualities...

...great labour directed by great abilities is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck...far-fetched, they were often worth the carriage." 50 Dual-valuation criteria of this kind enable critics to articulate their mixed feelings—the coexistence...

...great labour directed by great abilities is never wholly lost: if they frequently threw away their wit upon false conceits, they likewise sometimes struck...conceits were farfetched they were often worth the carriage."58 Eliot exploits this negative praise as a vehicle to translate the poetic qualities of...

...argument without having them explained. Even Dr. Johnson, who disliked the Metaphysicals, had admitted, "To write on their plan, it was at least necessary to read and think." Eliot rephrased that in twentieth-century terms: "A thought to Donne was an experience; it modified...