John dryden

The life of John Dryden and his works

1. John Dryden ( 9 august 1631- 12 may 1700 )

2. John Dryden   was a English:   Poet   Literary critic Translator   Playwright     Poet Laureate  

3. Early life and Education Born in Northamptonshire, England, on August 9, 1631. In 1644 he was sent to Westminster Schoo l  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.

4. 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.

5. 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 .

6. 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).

7. 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).

8. 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 .

9. ( 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  

10. 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 .

11. 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 .

12. His Famous Odes A Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1687) Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music   (1697)

13. 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

14. 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.

15. After Shakespeare , He wrote: The greatest heroic play of the century,   The Conquest of Granada  (1670, 1671), T he 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 .

16. 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

17. 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.

18. John Dryden died in London on May 12, 1700, and was buried in Westminster Abbey next to Chaucer.  

19. Sources www.Wikipedia.com www.poetryfoundation.org Norton Anthology of English Literature