"Better than Virgil? Yes—perhaps— But then, by Jove, 'tis Dr. Trapp's!"
— Joseph Trapp

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Added on April 10, 2026
Unverified quote
0 likes
ClergyPoets from EnglandAnglicans from the United KingdomUniversity of Oxford faculty
Original Language: English

Sources

Background provided in John Duncombe's Letters (2nd edition, Vol. I, 1773, p. 99): Richard Glover's Leonidas "had been written some years, and yet the author was, at the time of its publication [in 1737], only 24. The town was so divided in opinion about this poem at its first appearance, that some preferred it to Homer and Milton, while others placed it on a level with Quarles. To one who said 'it was better than Virgil,' a gentleman replied extempore" with the epigram above.