John Dryden (1631-1700)

Born in Northamptonshire into a political Puritan family, poet, playwright, and critic John Dryden was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. Dryden’s poetry, often shaped by heroic couplets, is steeped in classical and scientific references even as it is grounded in the political landscape of his time. Upon Charles II’s return to power in 1660, Dryden published “Astraea Redux,” a long poem in heroic couplets welcoming the king, the first of many public poems in support of the monarchy. He was appointed poet laureate in 1668, and royal historiographer in 1670.

Dryden wrote nearly 30 plays and operas, including The Conquest of Granada (1670), Marriage à la Mode (1671), and All for Love (1677). He also authored the satires Mac Flecknoe (1682) and The Medall (1682). From 1668 to 1678 he was a member of Thomas Killigrew’s theater company. His thorough defense of English drama, Of Dramatick Poesie, an Essay (1668), is one of the first pieces of modern dramatic criticism.

In his later years Dryden turned his attention to poetry and translation, composing several verse satires, including Absalom and Achitophel (1681). He joined the Catholic Church in 1686. In the last decade of his life he completed his most well-known translations of Virgil, Homer, Ovid, Chaucer, and other Latin classics using a technique he referred to as paraphrase.

POEMS
To the Memory of Mr. Oldham
You charm'd me not with that fair face