UNLIMITED Audiobooks and eBooks
Over 40,000 books & works on all major devices
Get ALL YOU CAN for FREE for 30 days!
The Vanity of Human Wishes and Two Rambler
Samuel Johnson
How does All You Can Books work?
All You Can Books gives you UNLIMITED access to over 40,000 Audiobooks, eBooks, and Foreign Language courses. Download as many audiobooks, ebooks, language audio courses, and language e-workbooks as you want during the FREE trial and it's all yours to keep even if you cancel during the FREE trial. The service works on any major device including computers, smartphones, music players, e-readers, and tablets. You can try the service for FREE for 30 days then it's just $19.99 per month after that. So for the price everyone else charges for just 1 book, we offer you UNLIMITED audio books, e-books and language courses to download and enjoy as you please. No restrictions.
The poem is difficult as well as weighty. At times its expression is so condensed that the meaning must be wrestled for. Statements so packed as, for example,
Fate wings with ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each grace of art,
do not yield their full intention to the running reader. One line, indeed,&mda. . . Read More
Try now for FREE!
"Love your service - thanks so much for what you do!"
- Customer Cathryn Mazer
"I did not realize that you would have so many audio books I would enjoy"
- Customer Sharon Morrison
"For all my fellow Audio Book & E-Book regulars:
This is about as close to nirvana as I have found!"
- Twitter post from @bobbyekat
Community Reviews
greed or desire sucks!
4.5 stars
Johnson’s theme in this poem, his first publication using his own name, could be “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,” or more bluntly: don’t be a bigshot, because someone is going to cut you down to size. Your wealth, your political power, your military might, your go
This poem isn't nearly as readable as Johnson's other works. It was a bit clunky and dated. It's a neat piece of historical literature but it doesn't have as much to offer a modern reader.
Samuel Johnson has reinforced in these lines that death is the endgame to life and no matter how much we aspire to something it's all efforts in futility because our assets all end here on earth. Knowing this, does it mean we should not aspire to greatness and be content in mediocrity?
Had to read these for my Literature course: Didn't understand much but with some research, it was interesting.