DRYDEN, JOHN

(1631-1700), Eng. poet and dramatist; 6. Aldwinkle; s. of a North amp tons hire rector; Poet Laureate and Historiographer Royal, 1670. D. was a voluminous dramatist during the greater part of his life, but much of his dramatic work is characterized by the gro immortality of his age; he wrote Heroic plays in rhyme, and later adopted blank verse, as in his best-known play, All for Love. D. began his career as poet with Heroic Stanzas on the Death of Oliver Cromwell, 1658, followed by Astroea Redux, 1660, in celebration of the Restoration. One of his strongest poems, Annus Mirabilis, commemorating the Fire of London and Dutch War, appeared in 1667; Absalom and Achitophel, political satire, in 1681; The Medal, in 1682; MacFlecknoe, satire on the poet Shad well, in the same year; R eligio Laict, religion of a layman, in 1683; and The Hind and the Panther, defence of Church of Rome, in 1687. The strong, vigorous English of these: poems, their keen invective, and satirical quality, give D. very high rank amongst Eng. poets. His poems, like his earlier decasyllabic couplets) as opposed to ‘blank verse.’ The lyrical poems, Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, and Alexander’s Feast, written in his later years, served but to increase his fame. His H ay on Dramatic Poetry, 1668, is valuable for its critical qualities and as a masterly piece of prose.