Note 40 — Chapter I · THE TREATMENT OF NATURE IN ENGLISH CLASSICAL POETRY

Dr. Johnson, “Works,” IX, 35. Cf. also Dr. Johnson’s remark to Boswell, “He said, he would not wish not to be disgusted in the Highlands; for that would be to lose the power of distinguishing, and a man might then lie down in the middle of them. He wished only to conceal his disgust.” See also his answer to the question, “How do you like the Highlands?” “The question seemed to irritate him, for he answered, ‘How, Sir, can you ask me what obliges me to speak unfavorably of a country where I have been hospitably entertained? Who can like the Highlands? I like the inhabitants very well.’”—Boswell’s “Life of Johnson,” V, 317, 377.