Dr Johnson and the Critic’s Ambush
A literary man tries to trick Samuel Johnson into an honest opinion, which was neither necessary nor very rewarding.
1763
A literary man tries to trick Samuel Johnson into an honest opinion, which was neither necessary nor very rewarding.
1763
James Macpherson published two poems, ‘Fingal’ in 1762 and ‘Temora’ a year later, which he said were translations of Irish oral tradition. He attributed them to Ossian, the legendary 3rd century Irish bard, who told of the ‘endless battles and unhappy loves’ of his father Fingal and son Oscar. Dr Johnson was, like most modern scholars, unconvinced.
AT this time the controversy concerning the pieces published by Mr James Macpherson, as translations of Ossian, was at its height.* Johnson had all along denied their authenticity; and, what was still more provoking to their admirers, maintained that they had no merit.
The subject having been introduced by Dr Fordyce, Dr Blair, relying on the internal evidence of their antiquity, asked Dr Johnson whether he thought any man of a modern age could have written such poems?* Johnson replied, ‘Yes, Sir, many men, many women, and many children.’
Johnson, at this time, did not know that Dr Blair had just published a Dissertation, not only defending their authenticity, but seriously ranking them with the poems of Homer and Virgil; and when he was afterwards informed of this circumstance, he expressed some displeasure at Dr Fordyce’s having suggested the topic, and said, ‘I am not sorry that they got thus much for their pains. Sir, it was like leading one to talk of a book when the author is concealed behind the door.’
See ‘Fragments Of Ancient Poetry’, by James MacPherson.
Hugh Blair (1718-1800) was minister in charge at the High Church of St Giles in Edinburgh, the highest post in the presbyterian Church of Scotland, and considered one of the finest critics of his day. James Fordyce (1720-1796) was also a Scottish Presbyterian minister, and a poet. His brother Sir William Fordyce (1724–1792) was a physician with a research interest in rhubarb cultivation for medicinal purposes.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
What was Johnson’s opinion of Macpherson’s ‘Ossian’ poems?
He thought them neither authentic nor praiseworthy.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
James Macpherson published several poems. He said the author was Ossian. Dr Johnson thought they were fakes.