The Vanity of Human Wishes
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''The Vanity of Human Wishes: The Tenth Satire of Juvenal Imitated'' is a poem by the English author
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709  – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
. It was written in late 1748 and published in 1749 (see 1749 in poetry). It was begun and completed while Johnson was busy writing ''
A Dictionary of the English Language ''A Dictionary of the English Language'', sometimes published as ''Johnson's Dictionary'', was published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson. It is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. T ...
'' and it was the first published work to include Johnson's name on the title page. As the subtitle suggests, it is an imitation of
Satire X The ''Satires'' () are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written between the end of the first and the early second centuries A.D. Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in th ...
by the Latin poet
Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
. Unlike Juvenal, Johnson attempts to sympathize with his poetic subjects. Also, the poem focuses on human futility and humanity's quest after greatness like Juvenal but concludes that Christian values are important to living properly. It was Johnson's second imitation of Juvenal (the first being his 1738 poem ''
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
''). Unlike ''London'', ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' emphasizes philosophy over politics. The poem was not a financial success, but later critics, including
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
and T. S. Eliot, considered it to be Johnson's greatest poem. Howard D. Weinbrot called it "one of the great poems in the English language".Weinbrot 1997 p. 46


Background

In 1738 Johnson composed ''London'', his first imitation of Juvenal's poetry, because imitations were popularised by those like
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
during the 18th century. When Johnson replaced
Edward Cave Edward Cave (27 February 1691 – 10 January 1754) was an English printer, editor and publisher. He coined the term "magazine" for a periodical, founding ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' in 1731, and was the first publisher to successfully fashio ...
with
Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. He ...
as his publisher, he agreed with Dodsley that he would need to change the focus of his poetry.Demaria 1993 p. 130 Johnson's ''London'' is concerned primarily with political issues, especially those surrounding the Walpole administration, but ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' focuses on overarching philosophical concepts. In a conversation with George Steevens, Johnson recounted that he wrote the first seventy lines "in the course of one morning, in that small house behind the church". Johnson claimed that "The whole number was composed before I committed a single couplet to writing".Demaria 1993 p. 131 To accomplish this feat, Johnson relied on a "nearly oral form of composition" which was only possible "because of his extraordinary memory". Johnson told Boswell that when he was writing poetry, he often "from laziness" only wrote down the first half of each line. This remark is borne out by the manuscript of ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'', in which the first half of each line is written in a different ink to the second half; "evidently Johnson knew that the rime words would keep the second halves in mind." Although Johnson was busy after 1746 working on his ''Dictionary'', he found time to further work on ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' and complete his play, ''
Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
''. The first edition was published on 9 January 1749. It was the first publication by Johnson to feature his name on the title page.Yung 1984 p. 66 It was not a financial success and only earned Johnson fifteen guineas. A revised version was published in the 1755 edition of Dodsley's anthology ''A collection of Poems by Several Hands''. A third version was published posthumously in the 1787 edition of his ''Works'', evidently working from a copy of the 1749 edition. However, no independent version of the poem was published during Johnson's life beyond the initial publication.


Poem

''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' is a poem of 368 lines, written in closed
heroic couplet A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the ''Legend of ...
s. Johnson loosely adapts Juvenal's original satire to demonstrate "the complete inability of the world and of worldly life to offer genuine or permanent satisfaction." The opening lines announce the universal scope of the poem, as well as its central theme that "the antidote to vain human wishes is non-vain spiritual wishes":Weinbrot 1997 p. 49
Let Observation with extensive View,
Survey Mankind from ''China'' to ''Peru'';
Remark each anxious Toil, each eager Strife,
And watch the busy scenes of crouded Life;
Then say how Hope and Fear, Desire and Hate,
O'erspread with Snares the clouded Maze of Fate,
Where Wav'ring Man, betray'd by vent'rous Pride,
To tread the dreary Paths without a Guide;
As treach'rous Phantoms in the Mist delude,
Shuns fancied Ills, or chases airy Good.
(Lines 1–10)
Later, Johnson describes the life of a scholar:
Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,
Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart;
Should no Disease thy torpid veins invade,
Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy Shade;
Yet hope not Life from Grief or Danger free,
Nor think the doom of Man revrs'd for thee:
Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,
And pause awhile from Letters, to be wise;
There mark what ills the Scholar's life assail,
Toil, envy, Want, the Patron and the Jayl
(Lines 151–160)


Sources

Johnson draws on personal experience as well as a variety of historical sources to illustrate "the helpless vulnerability of the individual before the social context" and the "inevitable self-deception by which human beings are led astray". Both themes are explored in one of the most famous passages in the poem, Johnson's outline of the career of
Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...
. As Howard D. Weinbrot notes, "The passage skillfully includes many of Johnson's familiar themes – repulsion with slaughter that aggrandizes one man and kills and impoverishes thousands, understanding of the human need to glorify heroes, and subtle contrast with the classical parent-poem and its inadequate moral vision." Johnson depicts Charles as a "Soul of Fire", the "Unconquer'd Lord of Pleasure and of Pain", who refuses to accept that his pursuit of military conquest may end in disaster:
'Think Nothing gain'd, he cries, till nought remain,
On ''Moscows Walls till ''Gothic'' Standards fly,
And all be Mine beneath the Polar Sky.'
(Lines 202–204)Johnson 1971 p. 88
In a famous passage, Johnson reduces the king's glorious military career to a cautionary example in a poem:
His Fall was destin'd to a barren Strand,
A petty Fortress, and a dubious Hand;
He left the Name, at which the World grew pale,
To point a Moral, or adorn a Tale.
(Lines 219–222)
In a passage dealing with the life of a writer, Johnson drew on his own personal experience. In the original manuscript of the poem, lines 159–160 read:
There mark what ill the Scholar's life assail
Toil Envy Want an the Garret and the Jayl
The word "Garret" was retained in the first published edition of the poem. However, after the failure in 1755 of
Lord Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, and man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Ches ...
to provide financial support for Johnson's ''
Dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
'', Johnson included a mordant definition of "patron" in the ''Dictionary'' ("''Patron'': Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery") and revised line 160 to reflect his disillusionment:
There mark what Ills the Scholar's Life assail,
Toil, Envy, Want, the Patron, and the Jail.


Imitation

Howard D. Weinbrot notes that ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' "follows the outline of Juvenal's tenth satire, embraces some of what Johnson thought of as its 'sublimity,' but also uses it as a touchstone rather than an argument on authority." In particular, Johnson and Juvenal differ on their treatment of their topics: both of them discuss conquering generals (Charles and
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
respectively), but Johnson's poem invokes pity for Charles, whereas Juvenal mocks Hannibal's death. Using Juvenal as a model did cause some problems, especially when Johnson emphasised Christianity as "the only true and lasting source of hope". Juvenal's poem contains none of the faith in Christian redemption that informed Johnson's personal philosophy. In order not to violate his prototype, Johnson had to accommodate his views to the Roman model and focus on the human world, approaching religion "by a negative path" and ignoring the "positive motives of faith, such as the love of Christ".Bate 1977 p. 282


Critical response

Although
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
and T. S. Eliot enjoyed Johnson's earlier poem ''London'', they both considered ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' to be Johnson's greatest poem. Later critics followed the same trend: Howard D. Weinbrot says that "''London'' is well worth reading, but ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' is one of the great poems in the English language". Likewise, Robert Folkenflik says "''London'' is not Johnson's greatest poem, only because ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' is better". Robert Demaria Jr. declared the work as "Johnson's greatest poem".
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
was a devoted admirer of Johnson and at one point filled three notebooks with material for a play about him, entitled '' Human Wishes'' after Johnson's poem.Beckett 1986


Notes


References

* * . * * * . * * . * . * * * . * . * * .


External links

* * Johnson, Samuel.
The Vanity of Human Wishes
'. 1749. Ed. Jack Lynch, Rutgers University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanity of Human Wishes 1749 poems British satirical poems Christian poetry Poetry by Samuel Johnson