Morales 1

Edson Morales
Kim Bauman
British Literature I
12 December 2016

Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson was a revered, though not during his lifetime but much after, English
writer, a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer, not sure
what a lexicographer is but it sounds cool. When he was young many people believed him to be a
bit repulsive and unsightly, sadly this is due to his health problems, though most would change
their mind once he started talking. They discovered an incredible youth with great charm and
intelligence that some adults dont possess. Johnson was believed to have Tourettes syndrome
because of the visual and verbal tics, which he was documented to have, but this is not known for
certain. He also suffered from tuberculous, his hearing and vision were impaired, and suffered
from depression every now and then.
Johnson was very intelligent even at an early age and his parents were known to kind of
parade him around. He hated this, Im sure plenty of people would have to, and would much
rather have his head buried into books. His parents may have done this because of the strenuous
situation his parents were in, they were in debt, that they wanted to show what little they had.
His parents sold books, though they werent very good at it, so he was very well exposed
to topics and books that most people would not know, even some of the scholars of that era.
Johnson was even able to write his first poem around the age of fifteen. He also visited the
Sturbridge Grammar School where he learned the art of translation as well as imitation. Johnson
overcame his problems and was able to attend Pembroke College in 1728, sadly money problems

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forced him to leave the next year. One of his professors believed that Johnson was the most
qualified person on his campus, because of what he knew and the level he was able to interpret it.
An interesting fact about Samuel Johnson is that in the beginning of the 1720s he often
participated in parlor verse-composing games, which revealed his ability at writing impromptu
verses. Most of these drawing games were written for private enjoyment of friends and was not
meant for the public.
After leaving college Johnson moved to Birmingham, where he began working as a
writer, this was a difficult time in his life as he was barely managing. He also married a widow,
Elizabeth Porter, many people objected to this marriage as they had a twenty year age difference.
She allowed Johnson to start a school with her money from her previous marriage, the boarding
school failed after only two years. Later he moved to London in 1737. There he started writing
for The Gentlemans Magazine. He also maintained an interest in composing Latin poems
throughout his writing career, using frequently spoken language to express his most intimate
thoughts.
When he was with The Gentlemans Magazine he anonymously published what would
become one of his best-known and most successful poems, London, which describes the reason
he left London .The poem is very descriptive and has a pessimistic view of the city. During the
publication of London, he and his wifes relationship deteriorated and the couple separated. A
few years later she died and he never remarried. In 1756, Johnson signed a contract to edit the
dramas of Shakespeare, a project that was scheduled to take eighteen months to complete but last
almost ten full years. Then he received an honorary LL.D from Trinity College and another
honor from Oxford ten more years later.

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June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary, which
took Johnson nearly nine years to complete, though he did make a claim that he could finish it in
three years. He even did this by himself with only a few assists he had, they handled much
smaller topics and worked on the illustrations. Johnson produced several revised editions of the
dictionary during his life. He also was given a pension of thirty pounds a year. After receiving his
annual pension from King George the Third, he was given an annual pension because of his
dictionary, Johnson gave more than two-thirds of it to the need and even turned his own home
into a refuge for a variety of unfortunate and disadvantaged persons. Where he lived until he
died.
Johnson was not content to just document events as an objective observer but instead he
participated in his writings, interjecting his moral stances and his opposition to subjectivity and
relativism. He wrote about such themes poverty, exile, political corruption, and the benefits of
the country over the city. According to Johnson, the primary purpose of poetry is to teach, to
comfort, and to aid. He believed the value of poetry lied in its ability to affect its reader. Johnson
was very passionate about his writings and poetry itself. He even had numerous occasional light
verses which consisted of parodies and burlesques meant to tease or mock the writings or
milestones of friends or contemporaries.
The Vanity of Human Wishes is modeled after Juvenals Tenth Satire, the work marks
Johnsons maturation according to many scholars, and presents characters vanity, striving for
military glory, physical beauty, fame, and wealth. Which results in the downfall of each of the
characters. The main theme of Satire 10 is about the prayers that people want and wish for to
their gods. Wealth, power, beauty, children, long life, and much more. Juvenal argues that each of

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these is actually a false good, and is only good so long as other wants conflict. The poem is
sometimes known as The Futility of Aspirations
The Vanity of Human Wishes: The Tenth Satire of Juvenal Imitated was written in 1749
and it was to show the reflection of our aspirations and our intentions. Johnson wrote in a
rhetorical style and The Vanity of Human wishes was written in 25 stanzas in heroic couplets. The
poem itself is most interoperated for readers with a mature style. He used personification to show
the characteristics of each goal. Johnson tells all the faults of humanity and how man is just
seeking some sort of power but always falls short of success and will ultimately fail. He also
emphasizes with man and believes that we just need more religious guidance and that without
following the word of God no pleasure can be had. Not only that, but the poem dwells on our
weakness as human beings. We can't help being too proud or arrogant or greedy. We're far from
perfect, in other words imperfect from the moment were born. It's inherent to our human nature
to be weak and it's this weakness that gets us into our troubles. The ultimate conclusion of the
poem is that the only chance we have at a happy life is through God. It's only through our faith in
God that we can hope to find peace and contentment.
Money, power, and beauty are the sum things we want as people, we gain these as beliefs
throughout life as we believe these are the things we want and that they are the only things that
can bring us happiness, and as we age they become like curses and progressively grows worse.
People can strive to not be greedy and arrogant, but they always want to show their power and
the like In The Vanity of Human Wishes and it will only lead to our own self implosion. And to
live in this manner, any type of success is only for self-gratification and will lead to an empty
and hollow life.

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A major trend in scholarships on The Vanity of Human Wishes are the concerns of its
status as satire and whether it should be changed to a tragedy. Many scholars claim that Johnson
had deviated from Juvenals original by revealing sympathy for his human characters rather than
scorn, like Juvenal. William F Kniskern, however attempts to dispel the critical belief that the
poem is a tragedy and not a satire, by asserting that Johnsons characters are, indeed
representative figures, but what they illustrate is the folly of desiring wealth, power, and political
position To imagine that Johnson found such ambition laudable when pursued, and tragic
when thwarted is not only to misread the poem but also suggests a not very thorough
acquaintance with Johnsons value.
This emphasis on the tragic nature of The Vanity of Human Wishes points to another
major critical debate. Whether the poem offers religious hope or simply reflects the inevitable
misery and incomprehensibility of the human existence. Since Johnson didnt condemn humanity
for their actions in the poem, it can believed that these are the base characteristics are what we
are born with and are part of our human nature and that man is not evil but exists in horrible
circumstances over which we have no control. Graham Cullen expresses that the notion that
whether one experiences desire or not, and that life will serve up misery and suffering even if
you dont. And any hope offered at the end of the poem is incomplete, which I believe means if
what he is saying is right than the poem fails in alleviating any of the problems. Then D.V. Boyd,
however finds that the poem reflects Johnsons conviction that no human can answer the
question of the nature of existence and that the incomprehensible human nature can only be filled
by religious faith.
Though the effect of the poem is to provide sadness- and even maybe cathartic, but
certainly profound and as certainly tragic in its dignity and inevitability. It also contains elements

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of satire throughout the poem as well and may people even to this day see it mainly as a satirical
poem. I like the poem but it can really get a bit broody and I believe it to be more of a Tragedy.
As from what I read on Johnson, I dont believe he would mock our existence and what he
believed to be our human nature. He was a religious man and he may have even wanted to help
people by pointing them to God with The Vanity of Human Wishes.
A Short Song of Congratulation, ranks among the best of Johnsons personal Satires, as
from what I read about. He wrote it during the latter part of his life, in 1780 he sent A Short Song
of Congratulation to one of his friends, Mrs. Thale, on the occasion of her foolish nephews, Sir
John Lade, coming of age and its mainly about him. But it can be about many young peoples
foolishness and naivet. Lade had once asked Johnson for whether or not he should marry. He
met Johnsons witty response, I would advise no man to marry, Sir, who is not likely to
propagate understanding, Unsurprisingly enough Lade fulfilled the prediction by wasting his
large fortune. Its a satirical poem and Johnson satirizes the way that young men often forget
their larger responsibilities and he ironically offers advice to the young men, which they may
have wanted.
In 1782, Johnson wrote On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet, in memory of the poor selfstyled physician who had so many years received shelter in his house and had been daily friend
at breakfast. He was a physician who for many years lived in Samuel Johnsons London house
and tended to the local poor, he rarely asked for money for his services. The poem is a statement
of grief, it has direct and melancholy seriousness. The opening lines set the tone with
characteristic expression of the illusory nature of hope and the journeys of man. Johnsons poem
is divided into nine four-line stanzas. The meter is iambic tetrameter and the rhyme scheme
is abab.

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All of Johnsons works, only the ones I wrote about, are extremely interesting and I had a
great time writing about him. I love how The Vanity of Human Wishes is very depressing and in a
way condemns man for our nature, at least at the first reading. But as you keep rereading and
read more on the subject of the material of which he based it off, you begin to understand that
poem offers some hope and doesnt actually condemn humanity. Though it is still up for debater
whether or not its a tragedy. I believe it is. I kind of gloss over On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet
and A Short Song of Congratulation, but there wasnt much to go. Though Im sure there is if I
dig deep enough.

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Works Cited
Sullivan, James. "Samuel Johnson." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia (2006): Research
Starters. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Meyers, Jeffrey. Samuel Johnson : The Struggle. n.p.: New York : Basic Books, c2008.,
2008. Navarro College Libraries Catalog. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Doyno, Victor, A. The Vanity Of Human Wishes: Overview. n.p.: Gale, 1991. Literature Resource
Center. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Howe, Julia Ward., Samuel Johnson, and Henry Vaughan. Poetry Criticism, Volume 81: Excerpts
from Criticism of the Works of the Most Significant and Widely Studied Poets of World
Literature. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 2007. Print.
"Samuel Johnson." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Damrosch, David, Kevin J. H. Dettmar, Susan J. Wolfson, and Peter J. Manning. The Longman
Anthology of British Literature. Boston: Longman, 2010. Print.
Stuprich, Michael. "On The Death Of Dr. Robert Levet." Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised
Edition (2002): 1-2. Literary Reference Center. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Walker, Robert G. "A Political Biography Of Samuel Johnson." Biography 3 (2015):
425. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.