An English poet born on 9th August 1931  in Northamptonshire, England. He was a very well known English poet, translator, critic, and literary playwriter. His works were well known throughout the world. He was England’s first Poet Laureate in 1668. He dominated the literary life of ‘Restoration England’ in such a manner that the period was known in the age of literary circles as the Age of Dryden. He was also known as ‘Glorious John’ by Walter Scott. 

 

Early Life 

 

Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh where he received his early education. In 1644, as a King’s scholar, he was sent to Westminster School where he learned the discipline of his life. This school had a basic focus on different religious and political spirit. They also encouraged Royalism. 

Dryden was born in the village of the rectory of Aldminkle in Northamptonshire. At that place, his grandfather was rector of all Saints. His father’s name was Erasmus Dryden and he was the eldest of 14 children. His mother’s name was Mary Pickering. They also supported the Puritan cause in the Parliament. His headmaster in the school of Westminster was a charismatic teacher. But he always respected the headmaster and also he sent his two sons in the same school. 

It was a humanist Public School, where the curriculum was presented in the form of art of rhetoric and debates. But they presented arguments for both sides i.e. for and against. Dryden was so influenced by this culture that he was very inspired and started using this art in his later writings and thinking procedure. There were dialectal patterns. The school’s curriculum included weekly assignments of translation which increased his capacity of assimilation. His first poem was published on 30th January 1649 which was related to the execution of King Charles I. His years at school were not so uneventful because there were many interesting things which took place. 

After his schooling, In 1650, he was admitted to a college in Cambridge known as Trinity College. It was also influenced by religious and political ethics which he attained n his early childhood. Again, he was taught by a Puritan Prasher whose name was Thomas Hill who was also the Masters of Trinity. He followed the curriculum related to rhetoric, classic and Mathematics. By God’s Grace, he graduated as a top of the list for Trinity that year 1654 and got his degree. But there was a tragedy in his family which left them hopeless. 

His father died in June of that particular year and there was no family income at all. He left some land from which some income could be generated but very less which was not enough for the basic survival of the family as there were many people in the family But he worked for the basic survival and earned money. But he never left his studies. He returned to London during the Protectorate and started working. With Cromwell’s Secretary of State whose name was John Thurloe. After some time, Gromwell also died on 23rd November 1658 and he met great poets there like John Milton and Andrew Marvell. His life was changed when he published his first poem which was important to him, named as Heroic Stanza in 1658. It was about Cromwell’s death and he wrote in an emotional manner. Restoration of Monarchy was done in 1660 and Dryden celebrated that with the Return of Charles II with Astraea Redux who was an authentic royalist panegyric. In his writing, Charles plays a very important role as a restorer of peace and order in the country. This was a kind of start to his professional career.  

After that, he was known as one of the most leading and literary critics of all time and he established himself as the allegiances to the new Government. He was the first one to welcome the new regime with two more panegyrics whose name was not disclosed yet. But according to his works, it has been seen that he worked with Astraea and Redux. They were working on to his sacred Majesty which was a Panegyrics on his coronation in 1662 and to my Lord Chancellor in 1662 also. He wrote these just to increase the reading public at that point in time. He did not write for the aristocracy and also not for the publishers. They were known all around the nation for his writings because they did not write for themselves. Dryden also played an important role in the Royal Society, where he took membership and was highly obliged but due to non-payment of his dues, he was expelled because of his inactiveness in 1666. 

On 1st December 1663, Dryden was married to Lady Elizabeth. He liked her so much that was shown in his writings also. 

There was a major change in the society after 1660 when there was reopening of the theatres. Dryden also participated in theatres by writing plays. In 1663, his first play was introduced which was known as ‘The Wild Gallant’  which was failed at that time. But his name came into the picture and he started writing three plays in a row for the King’s Company. By producing them, he became a very famous shareholder of that company. Dryden was the kind of person who was very serious for his works. His best work was ‘Marriage à la Mode’ in 1673 which was based on the tragedy. His writing includes many of his great works but some of them are, All for Love in 1678. He started writing dramatic plays because he always wanted to do something different in life. He also wrote historical plays and poems which attracted the audiences. But the life of Dryden in theatres ended with the Great Plague in London and he returned to Wiltshire and wrote Dramalick Poesie in 1668. 

Satiric Verse also gave him so much success. Some of them are, Mac Flecknoe, Absalom and Achitophel, Medal in 1682, Religio Laici in 1682, The Hindu and the Panther, etc. After this novel, he was converted to Roman Catholicism. He was also a translator as a profession and made great literary works in other languages as well. When he died on 12th May 1700, he gave tears to British Muses because they lost a gem. He was buried in St. Anne’s cemetery in Soho. He was a famous literary figure and influencer for all the people in the same field.