John Dryden 1631 1700 John Dryden 1631 1700

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John Dryden (1631 -1700)

John Dryden (1631 -1700)

John Dryden (1631 – 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright

John Dryden (1631 – 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the

Poetic style What Dryden achieved in his poetry was neither the emotional excitement of

Poetic style What Dryden achieved in his poetry was neither the emotional excitement of the early nineteenthcentury romantics nor the intellectual complexities of the metaphysicals. His subject matter was often factual, and he aimed at expressing his thoughts in the most precise and concentrated

poem designed purely for instruction ought to be plain and natural, yet majestic. .

poem designed purely for instruction ought to be plain and natural, yet majestic. . . The florid, elevated and figurative way is for the passions; for (these) are begotten in the soul by showing the objects out of their true proportion. . A man is to be cheated into passion, but to be reasoned into truth.

Reputation and Dryden was the Influence dominant literary figure and influence of his age.

Reputation and Dryden was the Influence dominant literary figure and influence of his age. He established the heroic couplet as a standard form of English poetry by writing successful satires, religious pieces, fables,

In his poems, translations, and criticism, he established a poetic diction appropriate to the

In his poems, translations, and criticism, he established a poetic diction appropriate to the heroic couplet— Auden referred to him as "the master of the middle style"[22]—that was a model for his contemporaries and for much of the 18 th century. The considerable loss felt by the English literary community at his death was evident in the elegies written about him. Dryden's heroic couplet became the dominant poetic form of the 18 th century. Alexander

A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic

A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales, and generally considered to have been perfected by John Dryden and Alexander Pope in the Restoration Age and early 18 th century respectively