Who was John Dryden?
Poet.
Date and Place of Birth:
19th August 1631, Vicarage of Aldwinkle All Saints,
Aldwinckle, Northamptonshire, England.
Family Background:
Son of a country gentleman.
Education:
Westminster School under Robert Busby. Trinity
College, Cambridge.
Chronology/Biography of John Dryden:
1657: After University
he moved to London to begin his career as a professional writer
and stayed with his cousin Sir Gilbert Pickering who was Oliver
Cromwell's Chamberlain.
1658: His "heroic
Stanzas" on the Death of Cromwell
were published.
1660: Hoping to
get on the right side of the new King Dryden produced "Astrea
Redux" celebrating the Restoration in heroic couplets.
1663: His first
play "The Wild Gallant" was a failure.
1664: His second
play "The Indian Queen, which he wrote in conjunction with
Sir Robert Howard met with much more success and was one of the
first of the new heroic tragedies.
1665: "The
Indian Emperor" mixed tragedy with comedy and dealt with the
conquest of Mexico.
1667: Dryden produced
"The Secret Love" which was also a successful tragi-comedy
and "Annus Mirabilis", The Years of Wonder" which
was the main work to establish his reputation.
1668: Dryden's growing
fame now increased when he was created Poet Laureate in succession
to Sir William D'Avenant. He now began to write exclusively for
Thomas Killigrew's theatrical company. He began to write an important
series of critical essays as prefaces to his plays, such as "Essay
of Dramatic Poesy".
1670: Created Historiographer
Royal.
1672: Dryden sensed
that the public mood for full blown tragi-comedies was at an end
and he produced the comedy "Marriage a La Mode".
1677: Dryden began
to adapt a number of Shakespeare's
plays including "The Tempest"" and "Antony and
Cleopatra". He also wrote librettos for Operas such as "The
State of Innocence". which was an adaptation of Milton's
Paradise Lost".
1678: Dryden now
broke with Kiligrew's company which was ridden with debts and offered
his new work "Oedipus" to another company.
1682: Dryden produced
the didactic poem "Religio Laici" which argues the case
for Anglicanism.
1683: He was given
post in the Customs for his political efforts in support of the
Tories.
1685: He converted
to Catholicism.
1688: He lost the
Poet Laureateship when the English Revolution happened when King
William and Mary took over the throne from James the Second.
1689: Although he
had now begun to write more poetry than theatrical works with masterpieces
such as "Absolom and Achitophel" he still produced items
for the stage including "Don Sebastien".
1690: Produced "Amphitryon"
based on the classic myth. He wrote the Libretto for "King
Arthur" with music by Henry Purcell.
Over his career he translated a number of other authors including
Virgil.
Written Works:
- 1649:
"Upon the Death of the Lord Hastings".
- 1659: "Poem
upon the Death of His Late Highness". "Oliver Lord Protector".
- 1660: "Astraea
Redux".
- 1661:
"To his Sacred Majesty".
- 1662: "To
My Lord Chancellor".
- 1663:
"The Wild Gallant".
- 1664: "The
Rival Ladies".
- 1665: "The
Indian Emperor or the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards".
- 1667:
"Secret Love or the Maiden Queen". "Sir Martin
Mar-All,or the Feigned Innocence". "Annus Mirabilis".
- 1668: "Essays
of Dramatic Poesie". "A Defence of an Essay of Dramatic
Poesie". "An Evening's Love or the Mock Astrologer".
- 1669: "Tyrannic
Love or the Royal Martyr".
- 1670:
"The Conquest of Granada Part One".
- 1671:
"The Conquest of Granada Part 2".
- 1672: "Amboyna
or the cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants".
- "The Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery".
"Marriage a la Mode".
- 1675: "Aureng-
Zebe".
- 1677: "All
for Love, or the World Well Lost.".
- 1678:
"The Kind Keeper, or Mr. Himberlam". "Oedipus".
- 1679: "Troilus
and Cressida or the Truth Found too Late".
- 1680:
"The Spanish Friar or the Double Discovery". "Ovid's
Epistles".
- 1682: "The
Duke of Guise". "Absolom and Architophel". "MacFlecknoe".
"The Medal". "Religio Laici".
- 1684:
"Miscellany Poems".
- 1685:
"Albion and Albanius". "Sylvae or the Second Part
of Poetical Miscellanies". "Threnodia Augustalis".
- 1686: "To
the Memory of Mrs. Anne Killigrew".
- 1687:
"The Hind and the Panther". "Song for Saint Cecilia's
Day".
- 1688: "Britannia
Rediviva".
- 1689:
"Don Sebastian, King of Portugal".
- 1690:
"Amphitryon or the Two Socias".
- 1691:
"King Arthur or the British Worthy".
- 1692:
"Cleomenes, The Spartan Hero".
- 1694: "Annual
Miscellany". "To Congreve".
- 1695:
"Du Fresnoy's De Arte Graphica".
- 1696: "Ode
on Henry Purcell".
- 1607:
"Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music".
- 1700:
"Fables, Ancient and Modern".
Marriage:
1663 to Lady Elizabeth Howard, eldest daughter
of the earl of Berkshire.
Date and Place of Death:
12th May 1700, London, England.
Age at Death:
69.
Site of Grave:
Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, London,
England, next to Geoffrey Chaucer.
Westminster Abbey, London site of
Dryden's Grave
(© Anthony Blagg)
Places of Interest:
KENT:
Knole House. (visited).
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE:
Canons
Ashby, Daventry, NN11 3SD once Drydens Home (National Trust).
