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An Essay on Criticism

Part I

INTRODUCTION. That it is as great a fault to judge ill as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. That a true Taste is as rare to be found as a true Genius. That most men are born with some Taste, but spoiled by false education. The multitude of Critics, and causes of them. That we are to study our own Taste, and know the limits of it. Nature the best guide of judgment. Improved by Art and rules, which are but methodized Nature. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a Critic, particularly Homer and Virgil. Of licenses, and the use of them by the ancients. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them.

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill;
But of the two less dangerous is th'offence
To tire our patience than mislead our sense:
Some few in that, but numbers err in this;
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone expose;
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.
In Poets as true Genius is but rare,
True Taste as seldom is the Critic's share;
Both must alike from Heav'n derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.

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poem by Alexander Pope
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She's Amazing

She came on scene
I felt like I was in a movie, She parted the room
The way that Moses did the Red Sea
And from across the room
I felt her body talking to me (yeah)
Cause thing about her, thing about her
Is she was amazing, So amazing
[Chorus:]
She's amazing
She's amazing
No man alive would ever dream of talking to her
She gave off a vibe like
Come Tom, I want to see ya
And for whatever reason, I was feeling lucky that day
Cause thing about her, thing about her
Is she was amazing, So amazing
[Chorus]
She's amazing in the daylight, She's amazing in the night,
Once you see her, She's the only thing on your mind
She's amazing, She's amazing, Every time she walks in to the room

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song performed by Lionel Richie
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Its Amazing

At a stand still, somebody, somebody put me here.
As I heal you, its not that much difference, well be there.
Cant you all see, what it says?
Its says okay now, okay now, now you go.
And I think i, Ill make it,
Because I love you, I love yes you know.
Its amazing, that were still here.
Its amazing, how?
I know you fear me now,
Why did you leave it in my hands?
I cant explain,
How can you leave me out,
How can you push me out,
How can you push me around again?
Its amazing, that were still here.
Its amazing, how?
Oh, amazing that were still here
Its amazing.
Its amazing, thats were still here.
Its amazing, how?

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song performed by Candlebox
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You're Amazing

Ain't no doubt about it, you're a masterpiece
You're amazing
Adrift at sea'til I saw your face
It's amazing
Anybodys guess - now it's guaranteed
Sent to seventh heaven in my hour of need
Baby baby baby you're amazing
Taken by surprise
Don't waste time tryin'to explain it
Can't believe my eyes
You changed my nights from black to blue
It's amazing
Ever since I fell in love with you
You're amazing
So far out of sight that it's like a dream
Beyond all imagining
But I believe
Baby baby baby you're amazing
Take me by surprise
Don't waste time, baby tryin'to explain it

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song performed by Robert Palmer
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The Pleasures of Imagination: Book The First

With what attractive charms this goodly frame
Of nature touches the consenting hearts
Of mortal men; and what the pleasing stores
Which beauteous imitation thence derives
To deck the poet's, or the painter's toil;
My verse unfolds. Attend, ye gentle powers
Of musical delight! and while i sing
Your gifts, your honours, dance around my strain.
Thou, smiling queen of every tuneful breast,
Indulgent Fancy! from the fruitful banks
Of Avon, whence thy rosy fingers cull
Fresh flowers and dews to sprinkle on the turf
Where Shakespeare lies, be present: and with thee
Let Fiction come, upon her vagrant wings
Wafting ten thousand colours through the air,
Which, by the glances of her magic eye,
She blends and shifts at will, through countless forms,
Her wild creation. Goddess of the lyre,
Which rules the accents of the moving sphere,
Wilt thou, eternal Harmony! descend

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poem by Mark Akenside
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The Castle Of Indolence

The castle hight of Indolence,
And its false luxury;
Where for a little time, alas!
We lived right jollily.

O mortal man, who livest here by toil,
Do not complain of this thy hard estate;
That like an emmet thou must ever moil,
Is a sad sentence of an ancient date:
And, certes, there is for it reason great;
For, though sometimes it makes thee weep and wail,
And curse thy star, and early drudge and late;
Withouten that would come a heavier bale,
Loose life, unruly passions, and diseases pale.
In lowly dale, fast by a river's side,
With woody hill o'er hill encompass'd round,
A most enchanting wizard did abide,
Than whom a fiend more fell is no where found.
It was, I ween, a lovely spot of ground;
And there a season atween June and May,

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poem by James Thomson
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The Four Seasons : Autumn

Crown'd with the sickle and the wheaten sheaf,
While Autumn, nodding o'er the yellow plain,
Comes jovial on; the Doric reed once more,
Well pleased, I tune. Whate'er the wintry frost
Nitrous prepared; the various blossom'd Spring
Put in white promise forth; and Summer-suns
Concocted strong, rush boundless now to view,
Full, perfect all, and swell my glorious theme.
Onslow! the Muse, ambitious of thy name,
To grace, inspire, and dignify her song,
Would from the public voice thy gentle ear
A while engage. Thy noble cares she knows,
The patriot virtues that distend thy thought,
Spread on thy front, and in thy bosom glow;
While listening senates hang upon thy tongue,
Devolving through the maze of eloquence
A roll of periods, sweeter than her song.
But she too pants for public virtue, she,
Though weak of power, yet strong in ardent will,
Whene'er her country rushes on her heart,

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poem by James Thomson
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Thirteen Lines

A brain peered through stoic eyes;
Yet all it saw was rendered into
Flawed interpretation –
No honoured contemplation of a
Gluon, muon, quark of any flavour;
Nor a vision or conception of its world
Within a universe anthropic in its physical laws,
Inside a boundless multiverse.
All it gleaned and modelled
Bore parochialism well beyond belief! –
Delusional perhaps.
Survival only matters here on planet Earth –
Evolution saw to that.

Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

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poem by Mark R Slaughter
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“it’s Amazing”

My eyes may close, yet I see your gentle face
It’s amazing

In silence, I hear the rhythm of your heart
It’s amazing

I touch your skin and feel your love
It’s amazing

Your scent releases all my memories of you
It’s amazing

I taste the sweetness of your ruby lips
It’s amazing

I cease all thought that my soul may speak to you
It’s amazing

Asleep I loose my spirit that I may find yours
It’s amazing

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poem by Ray Lucero
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Amazing

I was mixed up when you came to me
Too broke to fix
Said daddy get you gone, I'm missing my baby'
Still missing my baby
I was stitched up by the hands of fate
Said how you gonna make it on your own
If luck is a lady?
Maybe luck is a lady
I was going down for the third time
My heart was broken, I was not open to your suggestions
I had so many questions
That you just kissed away
Tell me, I guess that cupid was in disguise
The day you walked in and changed my life
I think it's amazing,
The way that love can set you free
So now I walk in the midday sun
I never thought that my saviour would come
I think it's amazing
I think it's amazing

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song performed by George Michael
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