...the imagination place himself; he has, therefore, little natural curiosity or sympathy"; and "no one ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure." 13. Of course Johnson uses the word "pride" somewhat differently in the two papers, allowing it to...

...Madness: A Thematic Analysis of All About H. Hatterr MK Naik Dr. Johnson's description of Paradise Lost as 'one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again' is well-known. All About H. Hatterr—an acknowledged masterpiece—has suffered an even worse fate....

...Sarah, sitting at the back of the room, listened with half an ear, remembering Dr. Johnson's words that "Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader...up again. None ever wished it longer than it is." Even Professor Merlin-Smith seemed to be suffering from the reading, although the student's monotone...

...encomiasts, that in reading Paradise Lost we read a book of universal knowledge. But original de.flcience cannot be supplied. The want of human interest is...a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and overburdened, and look elsewhere for recreation; we desert our master,...

...Miltonic aesthetic disabled conventional criticism and surpassed the interests of the common reader: 'Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader...admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again' (p. 183). Here, allying himself with the common reader, Johnson gains critical revenge for the experience...

...may now reconsider, in its entirety, Johnson's summary claim about the reader's reaction to the poem: The want of human interest is always felt. Paradise...a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and overburdened, and look elsewhere for recreation; we desert our master,...

...any effort of imagination place himself; he has, therefore, little natural curiosity or sympathy... Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader...take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is" (Lives 1: 181, 183). The final sentence, a particular favorite of common readers, speaks the kind of...

...poet's character and the tart comments on popular works such as Lycidas, the Masque, and Paradise Lost ("The want of human interest is always felt. Paradise...admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again ... Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure"). 46 Striking at Milton's role as the great national...

...hardly surprising that Johnson would be moved famously to remark that no one ever wished Paradise Lost longer than it is: "Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and overburdened, and look elsewhere for recreation; we desert our master,...

...before we cannot learn; what is not unexpected cannot surprise' (304). ‘Paradise Lost', he claims, ‘is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down ... Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and...