Routledge Revivals: The Art of Discrimination (1964)

First published in 1964, this book analyses claims and comments that English critics have made about James Thomson’s poem The Seasons (1730-46). Cohen deals with the relation between ‘practical’ and ‘philosophical’ criticism of the poem that for over two hundred years has been a model for other poems, has been the subject of books and even paintings, as well as being the legal document in a copyright precedent. Cohen begins with the problems of Thomson’s revisions before moving on to their hypotheses and their transformation, examining the critical tradition and the pressure of the poem. Cohen addresses literary criticism and illustrations of the Seasons as well as diction, style and language. This work will interest the enthusiast of 18th century poetry, giving a careful and thorough history of the reception of James Thomson’s poem.