"The Rosciad" is the most finished, pointed, and Pope-like
of his satires; it has more memorable and quotable lines than any of the
rest. "The Prophecy of Famine" is full of trash; but contains, too, many
lines in which political hatred, through its intense fervour, sparkles
into poetry: such as--
"No birds except as birds of passage flew;"
the account of the creatures which, when admitted into the ark,
"Their saviour shunn'd, and rankled in the dark;"
and the famous line--
"Where half-starved spiders prey on half-starved flies."
"The Ghost" is the least felicitous of all his poems, although its
picture of Pomposo (Dr Johnson) is exceedingly clever. The "Dedication to
Warburton" is a strain of terrible irony, but fails to damage the
Atlantean Bishop. "The Journey" is not only interesting as his last
production, but contains some affecting personal allusions, intermingled
with its stinging scorn--like pale passion-flowers blended with nettles
and nightshade. The most of the others have been already characterised.
Churchill has had two very formidable enemies to his fame and detractors
from his genius--Samuel Johnson and Christopher North.
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