Buchara state university m. Bakoeva, E. Muratova, M. Ochilova english literature

combined with his generous sentiment made him acceptable to
many who could not tolerate the hard brill iance of A. Pope. Also
his treatment o f nature was original, even i f ponderous, and it was
a theme growing in popularity. Thomas Gray (1716-1771), the
author of the “Elegy”, was among the most learned men in Europe
in his day, yet his poems are a thin sheaf, a few odes and the
“Elegy”. He brought into his poems new interests, but with the
whole o f the classical and medieval world within his grasp it is
said that some melancholy or inertia held him from composition.
Samuel 
Johnson 
(1709 - 1784)
The second half o f the eighteenth century is often called the
Age of Johnson. It was named so after Samuel Johnson, whose
powerful personality and long literary career, made him the
dominating literary figure of the century, from about 1750 until his
death in 1784. He was a critic, poet, playwright, lexicographer,
essayist, and biographer. Johnson may not have been the greatest
writer o f his time, but his conservative values and his deep
sensibility reflected the age and a profound impact on it.
Samuel Johnson was bom in the northern cathedral town of
Litchfield, where his father ran a small bookstore. The family

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was poor, and his father’s lack of money forced Johnson to leave
Oxford University without taking a degree. After he left Oxford,
he earned his living with a number o f teaching and journalism
jobs, none o f which were a financial success and none o f which
could satisfy his literary ambitions. However, by the 1740s he
began to produce works o f considerable importance.