John Dryden

( 9 AUGUST 1631- 12 MAY 1700 )

John Dryden was a

English:

Poet

Literary critic

Translator

Playwright

Poet Laureate

Early life and Education

Born in Northamptonshire, England, on August 9, 1631.

In 1644 he was sent to Westminster School where his

headmaster was Dr. Richard Busby.

In 1650 Dryden went up to Trinity College, Cambridge.

He obtained his BA in 1654.

He received a classical education at Westminster School

and Trinity College, Cambridge.

As a poet: After John Donne and John Milton, John Dryden

was the greatest English poet of the seventeenth century.

He published his first important poem, Heroic Stanzas (1659), a eulogy on Cromwell's death .

In 1660 Dryden celebrated the Restoration of the monarchy and the return of Charles II with Astraea Redux.

Annus Mirabilis

It is a poem published in 1667.

It commemorated 1665–1666, the

"year of miracles" of London.

Despite the poem's name, the year

had been one of great tragedy,

including the Great Fire of London.

Johnson writes that Dryden uses the term "year of

miracles" for this period of time to suggest that events

could have been worse.

It established him as the preeminent poet of his

generation, and was crucial in his attaining the posts

of Poet Laureate (1668).

Absalom and Achitophel ( 1681)

It is his most famous poetic

political satire.

The poem is an allegory that

uses the story of the rebellion

of Absalom against King

David as the basis for discussion

of the background to

the Monmouth

Rebellion (1685).

The Medal (1682)

Early in 1682 Dryden published another attack on

Shaftesbury and his followers, The Medall.

The controlling fiction of the poem is the two sides of the

medal, one with a portrait of Shaftesbury, the other with a

portrait of the City of London.

(1682 )Mac Flecknoe

It is a verse mock-heroic satire.

It is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, another prominent poet of the time.

Dryden denies Shadwell the lineage he has claimed, to be a new Son of Ben (Jonson) because of his dedication to a comedy of humors

Charles II died in 1685 and was succeeded by his catholic

brother, James II.

Within less than a year, Dryden and his two sons were

converted to Catholicism.

As a result, He was dismissed by William III and Mary II in

1688 after he refused to swear an oath of allegiance, remaining

loyal to James II.

Then, Thomas Shadwell succeeded him as Poet Laureate.

The Hind and the Panther(1687)

It's a Poem in Three Parts.

Its Dryden's longest poem.

In this poem Dryden celebrated his conversion

to Roman Catholicism.

His Famous Odes

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1687)

Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music (1697)

Heroic Couplet Dryden was the dominant literary figure and influence of his age.

He established the heroic couplet as a standard form of English

poetry.

Dryden's heroic couplet became the dominant poetic form of the

18th century.

Alexander Pope was heavily influenced by Dryden and often

borrowed from him

As a playwright:

After William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson,

he was the greatest playwright.

His first play, The Wild Gallant, appeared in

1663 and was not successful.

After Shakespeare, He wrote:

The greatest heroic play of the century, The Conquest of

Granada (1670, 1671),

The greatest tragicomedy, Marriage A-la-Mode (1671).

The greatest tragedy of the Restoration, All for Love (1677)

He adapted a number of Shakespeare's plays including The

Tempest and All for Love (1677), a retelling of Antony and

Cleopatra.

As a translator: Most of the work of his last years was in translation.

Dryden translated works by Horace,

Juvenal, Ovid, Lucretius, and Theocritus

His translation of the Aeneid remains the best ever

produced in English

Fables, Ancient and Modern (1700)

It is a collection of translations of classical and medieval

poetry.

It is a series of episodes from Homer, Ovid, and Boccaccio,

as well as modernized adaptations from Geoffrey

Chaucer interspersed with Dryden's own poems

it was his last and one of his greatest works. Dryden died two

months later.

John Dryden died in London on May

12, 1700, and was buried in

Westminster Abbey next to Chaucer.

Sourceswww.Wikipedia.com

www.poetryfoundation.org

Norton Anthology of English Literature