Addison, he seems to have been fond of his Latin poetry.
Those compositions show, that he was an early scholar; but his verses
have not the graceful ease, that gave so much suavity to the poems of
Addison. The translation of the Messiah labours under two disadvantages:
it is first to be compared with Pope's inimitable performance, and
afterwards with the Pollio of Virgil. It may appear trifling to remark,
that he has made the letter _o_, in the word _virgo_, long and short in
the same line: "Virgo, virgo parit." But the translation has great
merit, and some admirable lines. In the odes there is a sweet
flexibility, particularly--to his worthy friend Dr. Lawrence; on himself
at the theatre, March 8, 1771; the ode in the isle of Skie; and that to
Mrs. Thrale, from the same place.

His English poetry is such as leaves room to think, if he had devoted
himself to the muses, that he would have been the rival of Pope. His
first production, in this kind, was London, a poem in imitation of the
third satire of Juvenal. The vices of the metropolis are placed in the
room of ancient manners. The author had heated his mind with the ardour
of Juvenal, and, having the skill to polish his numbers, he became a
sharp accuser of the times. The Vanity of Human Wishes, is an imitation
of the tenth satire of the same author. Though it is translated by
Dryden, Johnson's imitation approaches nearest to the spirit of the
original. The subject is taken from the Alcibiades of Plato, and has an
intermixture of the sentiments of Socrates, concerning the object of
prayers offered up to the deity. The general proposition is, that good
and evil are so little understood by mankind, that their wishes, when
granted, are always destructive. This is exemplified in a variety of
instances, such as riches, state-preferment, eloquence, military glory,
long life, and the advantages of form and beauty. Juvenal's conclusion
is worthy of a christian poet, and such a pen as Johnson's. "Let us," he
says, "leave it to the gods to judge what is fittest for us. Man is
dearer to his creator than to himself. If we must pray for special
favour, let it be for a sound mind in a sound body. Let us pray for
fortitude, that we may think the labours of Hercules, and all his
sufferings, preferable to a life of luxury, and the soft repose of
Sardanapalus. This is a blessing within the reach of every man; this we
can give ourselves. It is virtue, and virtue only, that can make us
h