Johnson's Quarrel with Swift: December 2010

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Johnson's Portrait of Swift, by Jordan Richman

As an 18th century form of literature the biography parallels the novel and history. All three forms are in the words of Samuel Johnson in the pursuit of "knowledge, virtue and truth." However, readers past and present have not always found Johnsonian biography diverting because they felt he allowed his prejudices to intervene with his search for the truth.

Is there a difference between "prejudicial" biography and "subjective" biography?

The word "prejudice" equals an irrational dislike or antagonism toward some individual or group.
The term "subjective" refers to a point of view determined by time, place, and conditioning all factors that lead to value formation.

It is my contention that Johnson's biographical techniques were designed to show his clashes with other people's values not their personalities. When these clashes occur the sparks fly.

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Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, stands in a romantic park created by the famous landscape gardener 'Capability' Brown. It was presented by the English nation to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, in recognition of his victory in 1704 over French and Bavarian troops. Built between 1705 and 1722 and characterized by an eclectic style and a return to national roots, it is a perfect example of an 18th-century princely dwelling.

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Blenheim Palace © mazzle278 More pictures ...

Statement of Significance

Blenheim Palace near Oxford was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987 for its architectural importance, as the design and building of the Palace between 1705 and 1722 represented the beginning of a new style of architecture and for its landscaped Park designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown which is considered as “a naturalistic Versailles”.

In tangible form Blenheim is an outstanding example of the work of John Vanburgh and Nicholas Hawksmoor, two of England’s most notable architects. Blenheim represents a unique architectural achievement celebrating the triumph of the English armies over the French. Blenheim and its associated Park has exerted great influence on the English Romantic movement which was characterised by the eclecticism of its inspiration, its return to national sources and its love of nature. The original landscape set out by John Vanburgh who regulated the course of the River Glyme was later modified by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown who created two lakes seen as one of the greatest examples of naturalistic landscape design. Blenheim Palace was built by the nation to honour one of its heroes the first Duke of Marlborough and is also closely associated with Sir Winston Churchill.

Criterion (ii): By their refusal of the French models of classicism, the Palace and Park illustrate the beginnings of the English Romantic movement which was characterised by the eclecticism of its inspiration, its return to national sources and its love of nature. The influence of Blenheim on the architecture and organisation of space in the 18th and 19th centuries was greatly felt in both England and abroad.

Criterion (iv): Built by the nation to honour one of its heroes, Blenheim is, above all, the home of an English aristocrat, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, who was also Prince of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire, as we are reminded in the decoration of the Great Drawing Room by Louis Laguerre (1719–20).

In virtue of this criterion, just like the Residence of Wurzburg (included in 1981) and the Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust in Brühl (included in 1984), Blenheim is typical of 18th century European princely residences, a category which is still under-represented on the World Heritage List.

Long Description

By their refusal of the French models of classicism, Blenheim Palace and park illustrate the beginnings of the English Romantic movement, which was characterized by the eclecticism of its inspiration, its return to national sources, and its love of nature. The influence of Blenheim on the architecture and the organization of space in the 18th and 19th centuries was greatly felt both in England and abroad.

Built by the nation to honour one of its heroes, Blenheim is, above all, the home of an English aristocrat, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, who was also Prince of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire (as commemorated in the decoration of the Great Drawing Room by Louis Laguerre (1719-20). On 13 August 1704 John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, with the help of Prince Eugene of Savoy, won a decisive victory over French and Bavarian troops at Blindheim. As an expression of the nation's gratitude Queen Anne bestowed on him the royal property of Woodstock, one of the oldest royal properties set in the heart of a forest, rich in game, 13km to the north-west of Oxford. A new palace, commemorating this victory, of colossal dimensions was built between 1705 and 1722; its name became anglicized as Blenheim.

The works on this outstanding site to begin was entrusted to an ex-soldier and dramatist named John Vanbrugh with the collaboration of an architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor, whose talent was already evident in St Paul's Cathedral in London, Hampton Court, and Whitehall.

The main interest of this building is the authenticity of its national character: indeed, the decorative and figurative rhetoric all exalt the triumph of the English armies over the French. The term 'English Baroque' has been used when speaking of Blenheim, but this ambiguous and inadequate expression only goes to prove the difficulty art historians have in defining this unclassifiable building.

The symmetrical plan, with its classic-type spatial organization, is combined with an original elevation: there is something anachronistically defiant in the square towers which stand at the four corners of the main building with their distinct medieval influence. The eclecticism of Vanbrugh, a theatrical taste for stenographic effects which result from the heterogeneous architectural forms used, make Blenheim a pre-Romantic monument whose historical importance cannot be underestimated.

The innovative character of the palace is accentuated by the conception of the park whose original layout dates back to Vanbrugh: he regulated the course of the River Glyme and created the Great Bridge, which was never completed. However, it was more especially during the period between 1764 and 1774 that 'Capability' Brown, one of the most famous English landscape gardeners, turned this classical park into a wonderful artificial landscape by the creation of two lakes. During the course of the second half of the 18th century, Gothic or neo-Gothic style buildings were built.

In what remains of the family property of the Dukes of Marlborough (in the palace is the room where Winston Churchill was born in 1874) the evolution of the park has not been held back by conservation measures and its present state owes much to the transformations which were undertaken by the French landscape architect, Achille Duchène, between 1908 and 1930.

Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC

Vanbrugh's House

vanbrug's house

Date of publication:

First printed in Swift's 1711 Miscellany. Drafts survive from 1703.

Author:

Jonathan Swift

VANBRUGH'S HOUSE.

BUILT FROM THE RUINS OF WHITEHALL THAT WAS BURNT, 1703

In times of old, when Time was young,
And poets their own verses sung,
A verse would draw a stone or beam,
That now would overload a team;
Lead 'em a dance of many a mile,
Then rear 'em to a goodly pile.
Each number had its diff'rent power;
Heroic strains could build a tower;
Sonnets, or elegies to Chloris,
Might raise a house about two stories;
A lyric ode would slate; a catch
Would tile; an epigram would thatch.

But, to their own or landlord's cost,
Now Poets feel this art is lost.
Not one of all our tuneful throng
Can raise a lodging for a song.
For Jove consider'd well the case,
Observed they grew a numerous race;
And should they build as fast as write,
'Twould ruin undertakers quite.
This evil, therefore, to prevent,
He wisely changed their element:
On earth the God of Wealth was made
Sole patron of the building trade;
Leaving the Wits the spacious air,
With license to build castles there:
And 'tis conceived their old pretence
To lodge in garrets comes from thence.

Premising thus, in modern way,
The better half we have to say;
Sing, Muse, the house of Poet Van,
In higher strains than we began.

Van (for 'tis fit the reader know it)
Is both a Herald and a Poet;
No wonder then if nicely skill'd
In both capacities to build.
As Herald, he can in a day
Repair a house gone to decay;
Or, by achievements, arms, device,
Erect a new one in a trice;
And as a poet, he has skill
To build in speculation still.
"Great Jove!" he cried, "the art restore
To build by verse as heretofore,
And make my Muse the architect;
What palaces shall we erect!
No longer shall forsaken Thames
Lament his old Whitehall in flames;
A pile shall from its ashes rise,
Fit to invade or prop the skies."

Jove smiled, and, like a gentle god,
Consenting with the usual nod,
Told Van, he knew his talent best,
And left the choice to his own breast.
So Van resolved to write a farce;
But, well perceiving wit was scarce,
With cunning that defect supplies:
Takes a French play as lawful prize;
Steals thence his plot and ev'ry joke,
Not once suspecting Jove would smoke;
And (like a wag set down to write)
Would whisper to himself, "a _bite_."
Then, from this motley mingled style,
Proceeded to erect his pile.
So men of old, to gain renown, did
Build Babel with their tongues confounded.
Jove saw the cheat, but thought it best
To turn the matter to a jest;
Down from Olympus' top he slides,
Laughing as if he'd burst his sides:
Ay, thought the god, are these your tricks,
Why then old plays deserve old bricks;
And since you're sparing of your stuff,
Your building shall be small enough.
He spake, and grudging, lent his aid;
Th'experienced bricks, that knew their trade,
(As being bricks at second hand,)
Now move, and now in order stand.

The building, as the Poet writ,
Rose in proportion to his wit--
And first the prologue built a wall;
So wide as to encompass all.
The scene, a wood, produc'd no more
Than a few scrubby trees before.
The plot as yet lay deep; and so
A cellar next was dug below;
But this a work so hard was found,
Two acts it cost him under ground.
Two other acts, we may presume,
Were spent in building each a room.
Thus far advanc'd, he made a shift
To raise a roof with act the fift.
The epilogue behind did frame
A place, not decent here to name.

Now, Poets from all quarters ran,
To see the house of brother Van;
Looked high and low, walk'd often round;
But no such house was to be found.
One asks the watermen hard by,
"Where may the Poet's palace lie?"
Another of the Thames inquires,
If he has seen its gilded spires?
At length they in the rubbish spy
A thing resembling a goose-pie.
Thither in haste the Poets throng,
And gaze in silent wonder long,
Till one in raptures thus began
To praise the pile and builder Van:

"Thrice happy Poet! who may'st trail
Thy house about thee like a snail:
Or harness'd to a nag, at ease
Take journeys in it like a chaise;
Or in a boat whene'er thou wilt,
Can'st make it serve thee for a tilt!
Capacious house! 'tis own'd by all
Thou'rt well contrived, tho' thou art small:
For ev'ry Wit in Britain's isle
May lodge within thy spacious pile.
Like Bacchus thou, as Poets feign,
Thy mother burnt, art born again,
Born like a phoenix from the flame:
But neither bulk nor shape the same;
As animals of largest size
Corrupt to maggots, worms, and flies;
A type of modern wit and style,
The rubbish of an ancient pile;
So chemists boast they have a power,
From the dead ashes of a flower
Some faint resemblance to produce,
But not the virtue, taste, or juice.
So modern rhymers wisely blast
The poetry of ages past;
Which, after they have overthrown,
They from its ruins build their own."

Alexander Pope

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Johnson's Portrait of Swift, by Jordan Richman