The Vanity of Human Wishes

What it is

This is The Vanity of Human Wishes: The Tenth Satire of Juvenal Imitated, a poem by Samuel Johnson published in 1749. It was written while Johnson was also working on his Dictionary, and was the first of his works to carry his name on the title page.

Why it matters

The poem adapts the ancient Roman poet Juvenal's satire to argue that worldly ambition, wealth, and fame cannot bring lasting happiness, and that only Christian values offer true guidance. Later critics, including Walter Scott and T. S. Eliot, considered it Johnson's greatest poem. It shows Johnson's skill as a poet and the serious moral and religious thinking that ran through his life's work, even though it earned him little money at the time.

Look closer

• Why might Johnson have chosen to adapt an ancient Roman poem rather than write something entirely new?
• What examples does the poem use to show the dangers of ambition?
• Why might a poem about the emptiness of worldly success have mattered so much to later readers?