Dryden

JOHN, (dri'dn,) an English poet, B. 1631; after graduating at Cambridge, entered upon a literary career; s. Sir William Davenant as poet-laureate in 1668, and in his E ay on Dramatic Poesy, created, according to Dr. Johnson, the school of English criticism. D., by his dramas and political satires-especially his Absalom and Achitophel (1681) - stands at the head of English poets of the second rank, and his works have elicited high eulogy from such judges as Pope, Scott, Macaulay, and Brougham. D. 1700. [s. 305]