The Lives Of The PoetsEdit
The Lives Of The Poets refers to a landmark project in literary biography and criticism from the 18th century, most closely associated with Samuel Johnson. In Johnson’s extended series, the lives of English poets are paired with substantial critical essays that seek to assess not only their verse but the character and circumstances that shaped their work. The project helped transform how readers think about poetry, authorship, and the connection between a poet’s life and their art. It stands as a crucial node in the history of the English literary canon and in the development of biographical criticism.
From its inception, the undertaking combined biography, literary judgment, and moral portraiture. The primary aim was to determine what makes a poet great and how a poet’s life and manners bear upon the reception of their poetry. In this sense, the Lives function as both a guide to taste and a framework for evaluating merit. Johnson’s insistence that poetry be understood within the totality of a poet’s character reflects late Enlightenment assumptions about virtue, order, and public usefulness. The project also embodies the era’s confidence that literary achievement could be measured against a fixed standard of form, technique, and decorum, with the best poets serving as exemplars for civic and cultural life. Samuel Johnson Lives of the Poets Literary criticism Canon (literary) English literature
Origins and Purpose
Method and Style
The Lives of the Poets are conceived as a series of compact biographical sketches in which Johnson blends anecdote, quotation, and close reading. He situates each poet within a lineage of predecessors and successors, tracing influences, rivalries, and stylistic developments. He also weighs a poet’s character—habits, passions, moral choices—against the quality and lasting impact of their verse. This combination of life-writing and critique helped establish a model in which biography serves as a key to interpretation, not merely a record of dates and marriages. Samuel Johnson Biography John Dryden William Shakespeare John Milton
Canon Formation
The project was instrumental in shaping what later readers would think of as the English canon. By selecting a set of poets to feature and by embedding judgments about taste and virtue into those portraits, Johnson helped define a standard of poetic excellence. The emphasis tended to favor poets who aligned with classical form, public virtue, and a certain degree of restraint in both life and art. As a result, the Lives contributed to a canon that favored certain kinds of achievement—clear craft, moral seriousness, and communicative power—while marginalizing voices that did not fit those criteria. Literary canon Shakespeare Dryden Pope
Structure and Approach
Arrangement and Scope
The Lives typically present a sequence of individual portraits, moving from earlier medieval roots through prominent poets of the late Renaissance and Restoration. Each entry combines biography with a sustained critical assessment of the poet’s works, often concluding with a verdict on their place in English letters. Johnson’s approach treats poetry as a public, cultural achievement as much as a private act of imagination, linking aesthetic success to social context and personal conduct. Chaucer Shakespeare Dryden Pope
Critical Voice
A defining feature is Johnson’s moral and stylistic judgment. He praises poets who demonstrate mastery of language, form, and moral clarity, while he critiques failures of taste, illegitimate indulgence, or moral misstep. The result is a voice that blends admiration with admonition, shaping readers’ perceptions of what poetry should be and what poets should aspire to be. This critical voice helped to standardize expectations for poetic craft and public persona for generations of readers. Literary criticism Canon (literary) Shakespeare
Impact and Legacy
Influence on Critics and Readers
The Lives of the Poets played a central role in how readers encountered English poetry for many decades. It provided a structured, almost creed-like set of criteria for evaluating poets and helped readers navigate a growing field of reverse-age reputations, critical schools, and evolving tastes. The work’s influence extended beyond Johnson’s lifetime, informing later biographical traditions and shaping the way literary history was written. Samuel Johnson Literary criticism Biography
Modern Reassessment and Debate
In modern scholarship, many of Johnson’s judgments are revisited. Critics argue that the Lives, while brilliant, reflect a selective and sometimes narrow set of values—especially in their emphasis on male poets and a certain Anglo-centric notion of refinement. Contemporary scholars stress the need to widen the canon to include women poets, poets of regional or ethnic backgrounds, and voices outside the dominant tradition. This reevaluation often treats Johnson’s method as a product of its time—illuminating in its insight into poetics and character, yet limited by the era’s conventions about authority, aesthetics, and identity. Modern editions and critical essays frequently aim to balance Johnson’s achievements with these broader perspectives. Canon (literary) Women poets Racial and ethnic representation Literary criticism
Controversies and Debates
Representation and the Canon
A central controversy concerns the scope of the poets covered and the criteria used to judge them. Critics have pointed out that the Lives privileges certain kinds of poetry—predominantly formal, harmonized, and morally upright verse—while marginalizing experimental, radical, or otherwise unconventional voices. Debates continue about how to reconstruct a more inclusive canon that acknowledges neglected writers and diverse modes of poetic expression. Literary canon Aphra Behn Mary Leapor Poetry (gender and sexuality)
Life versus Art
Another enduring debate centers on the balance between biographical detail and artistic achievement. Johnson’s intertwining of a poet’s life with judgments about their poetry invites questions about how much a writer’s private history should determine public evaluation. Some scholars argue that biography can illuminate poetry, while others contend that it risks conflating moral biography with aesthetic merit. The conversation persists in contemporary criticism and biographical practice. Biography Poetry Shakespeare