1765 ENGLISH POETRY 1579-1830: SPENSER AND THE TRADITION

Samuel Johnson

Anonymous, "On seeing a Letter in the Public Advertiser on Dr. Johnson's postponing his publication of Shakespeare" Public Advertiser (20 August 1765).

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For nine Years or near,
Shakespeare's Plays don't appear,
With Johnson's Remarks to explain 'em;
But why prates the Fool?
It is Horaces's Rule—
"Nonumque prematur in annum."