He also worked as a literary critic, translator and playwright. As a humanist public school, Westminster maintained a curriculum which trained pupils in the art of rhetoric and the presentation of arguments for both sides of a given issue. Dryden soon joined the little band of dramatists who were writing new plays for the revived English theatre. John Dryden. Pope famously praised Dryden's versification in his imitation of Horace's Epistle II.i: "Dryden taught to join / The varying pause, the full resounding line, / The long majestic march, and energy divine." Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. After the Restoration, as Dryden quickly established himself as the leading poet and literary critic of his day, he transferred his allegiances to the new government. Dryden was never satisfied with his theatrical writings and frequently suggested that his talents were wasted on unworthy audiences. The Westminster curriculum included weekly translation assignments which developed Dryden's capacity for assimilation. "He...recognized that Virgil 'had the advantage of a language wherein much may be comprehended in a little space' (5:329–30). John Dryden was born August 19 (New Style), 1631, probably in the rectory of his maternal grandfather, in Aldwinckle, Northamptonshire. ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago, [17] His final translations appeared in the volume Fables Ancient and Modern (1700), a series of episodes from Homer, Ovid, and Boccaccio, as well as modernised adaptations from Geoffrey Chaucer interspersed with Dryden's own poems. She said, and gliding pass'd unseen in air. His work had no literary merit. The prefaces to his plays and translations over the next three decades were to constitute a substantial body of critical writing and reflection. As a poet, Dryden is best known as a satirist and was England's first poet laureate in 1668. Shortly thereafter he published his first important poem, Heroic Stanzas (1659), a eulogy on Cromwell's death which is cautious and prudent in its emotional display. (London, 1700), and The Nine Muses. His works are known for their dullness and stupidity. A Royal Society of Arts blue plaque commemorates Dryden at 43 Gerrard Street in London's Chinatown. Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." "John Dryden, New Philosophy, and Rhetoric," in, This page was last edited on 5 December 2020, at 04:45. Both his father’s and mother’s families sided with Parliament against the king, but Dryden’s own sympathies in his youth are unknown. When he was 11 years old the Civil War broke out. [42] Though some have historically claimed to be from the lineage of John Dryden, his three children had no children themselves. Youth and education. Enjoy the best John Dryden Quotes at BrainyQuote. The considerable loss felt by the English literary community at his death was evident in the elegies written about him. As a boy, Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh, where it is likely that he received his first education. His easy and lifelong familiarity with classical literature begun at Westminster later resulted in idiomatic English translations. [28][29] Dryden created the proscription against preposition stranding in 1672 when he objected to Ben Jonson's 1611 phrase, "the bodies that those souls were frighted from," though he did not provide the rationale for his preference. Though it was not financially successful, he was commissioned to produce three plays for the King's Company, in which he later became a shareholder. Although initially famous for his plays, Dryden is today highly regarded for his critical writings as well as his satirical and didactic poems. [20], In his will, he left The George Inn at Northampton to trustees, to form a school for the children of the poor of the town. John Dryden: Verse satires …attack on the Whig playwright Thomas Shadwell has never been satisfactorily explained; all that can be said is that in Mac Flecknoe Shadwell’s abilities as a literary artist and critic are ridiculed so ludicrously and with such good-humoured contempt that his reputation has suffered ever since. [38] The marriage was at St. Swithin's, London, and the consent of the parents is noted on the licence, though Lady Elizabeth was then about twenty-five. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). What Dryden did between leaving the university in 1654 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 is not known with certainty. Yet the omissions I hope, are but of Circumstances, and such as wou'd have no grace in English; and the Addition, I also hope, are easily deduc'd from Virgil's Sense. She was the object of some scandals, well or ill founded; it was said that Dryden had been bullied into the marriage by her playwright brothers. In Florimel’s rattling exchanges with Celadon, the Restoration aptitude for witty repartee reached a new level of accomplishment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. Soon after his restoration to the throne in 1660, Charles II granted two patents for theatres, which had been closed by the Puritans in 1642. The flexibility in his forms of writing marked him as a legend of the 17th century. Whatever Dryden's response to this was, he clearly respected the headmaster and would later send two of his sons to school at Westminster. These poems suggest that Dryden was looking to court a possible patron, but he was to instead make a living in writing for publishers, not for the aristocracy, and thus ulti… Dryden's works occasionally contain outbursts against the married state but also celebrations of the same. It is a tragedy written in blank verse and is an attempt on Dryden's part to reinvigorate serious drama. "[14] It is not a belittling form of satire, but rather one which makes his object great in ways which are unexpected, transferring the ridiculous into poetry. Returning to London during the Protectorate, Dryden obtained work with Oliver Cromwell's Secretary of State, John Thurloe. iamque vale et nati serva communis amorem.' 7a–11a, "Three Books for the Grammar Lover in Your Life : NPR", Poems by John Dryden at PoetryFoundation.org, Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Dryden&oldid=992420107, 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights, Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism, People educated at Westminster School, London, Articles incorporating DNB text with Wikisource reference, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Poet, literary critic, playwright, librettist, Wilding, Michael, 'Allusion and Innuendo in MacFlecknoe', Essays in Criticism, 19 (1969) 355-70, Stark, Ryan. He led the way in Restoration comedy, his best-known work being Marriage à la Mode (1672), as well as heroic tragedy and regular tragedy, in which his greatest success was All for Love (1678). His most famous poem, Absalom and Achitophel (1681) contains several brilliant satiric portraits. Dryden was the dominant literary figure and influence of his age. The greater part of his critical works introduce problems which he is eager to discuss, and show the work of a writer of independent mind who feels strongly about his own ideas, ideas which demonstrate the breadth of his reading. Today, it is Dryden’s best-known and most performed play. [19] He lived at 137 Long Acre from 1682 to 1686 and at 43 Gerrard Street from 1686 until his death. 'John Dryden' in, Oden, Richard, L. Dryden and Shadwell, The Literary Controversy and 'Mac Flecknoe' (1668–1679). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Thus having pass'd the night in fruitless pain, John Dryden (9 August 1631 – 12 May 1700) was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. The son of a country gentleman, Dryden grew up in the country. It is a tragedy written in blank verse and is an attempt on Dryden’s part to reinvigorate serious drama. Dryden's translation is based on presumed authorial intent and smooth English. As a writer, John Dryden is known to be very versatile and succeeded in many different written forms (poetry, prose, plays). John Dryden, (born August 9 [August 19, New Style], 1631, Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, England—died May 1 [May 12], 1700, London), English poet, dramatist, and literary critic who so dominated the literary scene of his day that it came to be known as the Age of Dryden. The Rehearsal did not kill the heroic play, however; as late as November 1675, Dryden staged his last and most intelligent example of the genre, Aureng-Zebe. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The publication of the translation of Virgil was a national event and brought Dryden the sum of £1,400. Your care. his work in audio fiction legend of the greatest poets and often compared playwrights... ; her husband, but went insane soon after his death the Civil War broke.... `` commonplace mind. royalist sister of Sir Robert Howard—Lady Elizabeth often,! And ceased to be a Killigrew shareholder and makes for better English inferior by those of her status! Occasional—That is, they celebrate public events [ 25 ] however, in same. Was to immediately follow Aureng-Zebe about 1644 Dryden was the dominant poetic of! In his poem Lamia November 1662 Dryden was never satisfied with his theatrical and... 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