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Digvijay Pandya, Lovely Professional University
Unit 11: The Age of Johnson-The Decline of Neoclassicism (Devotional Verse, Popularity of Periodical Essays)

Unit 11: The Age of Johnson-The Decline of Notes

Neoclassicism (Devotional Verse,
Popularity of Periodical Essays)

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
11.1 Poets of the Age of Johnson
11.2 Prose of the Age of Johnson
11.3 Periodical Essays
11.3.1 The History of the Periodical Essay
11.4 Summary
11.5 Keywords
11.6 Review Questions
11.7 Further Readings

Objectives
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
Describe poets of the age of johnson and prose of the age of johnson.
Define periodical essays.
Explain the history of the periodical essay.

Introduction

The later half of the eighteenth century, which was dominated by Dr. Samuel Johnson, is called the
Age of Johnson. Johnson died in 1784, and from that time the Classical spirit in English literature
began to give place to the Romantic spirit, though officially the Romantic Age started from the
year 1798 when Wordsworth and Coleridge published the famous Lyrical Ballads. Even during the
Age of Johnson, which was predominantly classical, cracks had begun to appear in the solid wall
of classicism and there were clear signs of revolt in favour of the Romantic spirit. This was
specially noticeable in the field of poetry. Most of the poets belonging to the Age of Johnson may
be termed as the precursors of the Romantic Revival. That is why the Age of Johnson is also called
the Age of Transition in English literature.

11.1 Poets of the Age of Johnson
As has already been pointed out, the Age of Johnson in English poetry is an age of transition and
experiment which ultimately led to the Romantic Revival. Its history is the history of the struggle
between the old and the new, and of the gradual triumph of the new. The greatest protagonist of
classicism during this period was Dr. Johnson himself, and he was supported by Goldsmith. In the
midst of change these two held fast to the classical ideals, and the creative work of both of them in
the field of poetry was imbued with the classical spirit. As Macaulay said, “Dr. Johnson took it for
granted that the kind of poetry which flourished in his own time and which he had been accustomed
to hear praised from his childhood, was the best kind of poetry, and he not only upheld its claims
by direct advocacy of its canons, but also consistently opposed every experiment in which, as in
the ballad revival, he detected signs of revolt against it.” Johnson’s two chief poems, London and
The Vanity of Human Wishes, are classical on account of their didacticism, their formal, rhetorical
style, and their adherence to the closed couplet.
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