Johnson, who
contributed a few lines at the close, proclaimed 'The Traveller' to be
the best poem since the death of Pope; and it is certainly not easy to
find its equal among the works of contemporary bards. It at once raised
Goldsmith from the condition of a clever newspaper essayist, or--as men
like Sir John Hawkins would have said--a mere 'bookseller's drudge,' to
the foremost rank among the poets of the day. Another result of its
success was the revival of some of his earlier work, which, however
neglected by the author, had been freely appropriated by the discerning
pirate. In June, 1765, Griffin and Newbery published a little volume of
'Essays by Mr. Goldsmith', including some of the best of his
contributions to 'The Bee', 'The Busy Body', 'The Public Ledger', and
'The British Magazine', besides 'The Double Transformation' and 'The
Logicians Refuted,' two pieces of verse in imitation of Prior and Swift,
which have not been traced to an earlier source. To the same year
belongs the first version of a poem which he himself regarded as his
best work, and which still retains something of its former popularity.
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