John Dryden
John Dryden (1631–1700) was an English poet, critic, and playwright who served as the first Poet Laureate. His works—including "Absalom and Achitophel," "Mac Flecknoe,"…
"POETS, like lawful monarchs, ruled the stage, Till critics, like damn'd Whigs, debauch'd our age. Mark how they jump: critics would regulate Our theat"
"'Tis hard, my friend, to write in such an age, As damns, not only poets, but the stage. That sacred art, by Heaven itself infused, Which Moses, David,"
"A Pastoral Elegy. 'Twas on a joyless and a gloomy morn, Wet was the grass, and hung with pearls the thorn; When Damon, wh"
"On His Learned And Useful Works; But More Particularly His Treatise Of Stonehenge,[1] By Him Restored To The True Founder. The longest tyra"
"A Poet once the Spartans led to fight, And made them conquer in the muse's right; So would our poet lead you on this day,"
"SPOKEN BY MR BETTERTON, REPRESENTING THE GHOST OF SHAKSPEARE. See, my loved Britons, see your Shakspeare rise, An awful ghost,"
"Were you but half so wise as you're severe, Our youthful poet should not need to fear: To his green years your censures you"
"A VISION. Now turning from the wintry signs, the sun, His course exalted, through the Ram had run, And whirling up the sk"
"Farewell, too little, and too lately known, Whom I began to think, and call my own: For sure our souls were near allied, and"
"BOOK I. In days of old, there lived, of mighty fame, A valiant prince, and Theseus was his name: A chief, who more in"
"Below this marble monument is laid All that heaven wants of this celestial maid. Preserve, O sacred tomb! thy trust consign'"
"[Enter Mr Bright.] Gentlemen, we must beg your pardon; here's no Prologue to be had to-day; our new play is like to come on, without a"
"A plain-built[1] house, after so long a stay, Will send you half unsatisfied away; When, fallen from your expected pomp, you"
"Sure there's a fate in plays, and 'tis in vain To write, while these malignant planets reign. Some very foolish influence ru"
"What state of life can be so blest As love, that warms a lover's breast? Two souls in one, the same desire To grant"
"Farewell, ungrateful traitor! Farewell, my perjur'd swain! Let never injur'd woman Believe a man again. The pleasure of possessing Surpasses all expre"
"Why should a foolish marriage vow, Which long ago was made, Oblige us to each other now, When passion is decayed? We loved, and we loved, as long as w"
"Farewell, too little and too lately known, Whom I began to think and call my own; For sure our souls were near allied, and thine Cast in the same poet"
"Consecrated to the Glorious Memory of His Most Serene and Renowned Highness, Oliver, Late Lord Protector of This Commonwealth, etc. (Oliver Cromwell)"
"Dim, as the borrow'd beams of moon and stars To lonely, weary, wand'ring travellers, Is reason to the soul; and as on high, Those rolling fires discov"
"Were you but half so wise as you're severe, Our youthful poet should not need to fear: To his green years your censures you would suit, Not blast the"
"When Athens all the Grecian state did guide, And Greece gave laws to all the world beside; Then Sophocles with Socrates did"
"A parish priest was of the pilgrim train; An awful, reverend, and religious man. His eyes diffused a venerable grace,"
"Oft has our poet wish'd, this happy seat Might prove his fading Muse's last retreat: I wonder'd at his wish, but now I find"
"WITH THE FOLLOWING POEM OF PALAMON AND ARCITE. MADAM, The bard who first adorn'd our native tongue, Tuned to his Bri"
"Of all dramatic writing, comic wit, As 'tis the best, so 'tis most hard to hit, For it lies all in level to the eye,"
"SPOKEN BY MR HART. Poets, your subjects have their parts assign'd To unbend, and to divert their sovereign's mind: Wh"
"A Poem, In Three Parts. --Antiquam exquirite matrem. Et vera incessa patuit Dea."
"SPOKEN BY MR BETTERTON. 1690. What Nostradame, with all his art, can guess The fate of our approaching Prophetess? A play which, like a p'rspective se"
"What Sophocles could undertake alone, Our poets found a work for more than one; And therefore two lay tugging at the piece,"
"A FUNERAL PINDARIC POEM, SACRED TO THE HAPPY MEMORY OF KING CHARLES II. I. Thus long my grief has kept me dumb: Sure ther"
"Like some raw sophister that mounts the pulpit, So trembles a young Poet at a full pit. Unused to crowds, the parson quakes"
"Oh, last and best of Scots! who didst maintain Thy country's freedom from a foreign reign; New people fill the land now thou art gone,"
"A Poem On The Happy Restoration And Return Of His Sacred Majesty Charles Ii., 1660. "Jam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna."--VIRG."
"An Ode. 1685. I. Thou youngest virgin-daughter of the skies, Made in the last promotion of the blest; Whose palms, new pluck'd from Paradise, In sprea"
"Must noble Hastings immaturely die, The honour of his ancient family; Beauty and learning thus together meet, To br"
"You've seen a pair of faithful lovers die: And much you care; for most of you will cry, 'Twas a just judgment on their const"
"TO THE READER. It is not my intention to make an apology for my poem: some will think it needs no excuse, and others will receive none. The"
"The unhappy man, who once has trail'd a pen, Lives not to please himself, but other men; Is always drudging, wastes his life"
"The famed Italian Muse, whose rhymes advance Orlando and the Paladins of France, Records, that, when our wit and sense is fl"
"After our sop's fable shown to-day, I come to give the moral of the play. Feign'd Zeal, you saw, set out the speedier pace:"
"How bless'd is he who leads a country life, Unvex'd with anxious cares, and void of strife! Who studying peace, and shunning civil rage, Enjoy'd his y"
"A Panegyrical Poem, Dedicated To The Memory Of The Late Countess Of Abingdon. To The Right Honourable The Earl Of Abingdon, &C. MY LOR"
"To say, this comedy pleased long ago, Is not enough to make it pass you now. Yet, gentlemen, your ancestors had wit;"
"(Prologue To The University Of Oxford, Spoken By Mr Hart, At The Acting Of "The Silent Woman.") No poor Dutch peasant, wing'd with all his"
"As Jupiter I made my court in vain; I'll now assume my native shape again. I'm weary to be so unkindly used, And wo"
"Sacred To The Immortal Memory Of Sir Palmes Fairbone, Knight, Governor Of Tangier; In Execution Of Which Command, He Was Mortally Wounded By A Sho"
"Fools, which each man meets in his dish each day, Are yet the great regalios of a play; In which to poets you but just appea"
"TIR. Choose the darkest part o' th' grove, Such as ghosts at noonday love. Dig a trench, and dig it nigh Where the"
"An Ode. 1685. I. Thou youngest virgin-daughter of the skies, Made in the last promotion of the blest; Whose palms, new"
"You saw our wife was chaste, yet thoroughly tried, And, without doubt, ye are hugely edified; For, like our hero, whom we sh"
"Fair, sweet, and young, receive a prize Reserved for your victorious eyes: From crowds, whom at your feet you se"
"The Grecian wits, who Satire first began, Were pleasant Pasquins on the life of man; At mighty villains, who the state oppress'd, They durst not rail,"
"To all and singular in this full meeting, Ladies and gallants, Phoebus sends ye greeting. To all his sons, by whate'er title"
"CLARENDON had law and sense, Clifford was fierce and brave; Bennet's grave look was a pretence,"
"CREATOR SPIRIT, by whose aid The world's foundations first were laid, Come, visit every pious mind; Come, pour thy"
"I. Ah, fading joy! how quickly art thou past! Yet we thy ruin haste. As if the cares of human life were few,"
"A Song. Happy and free, securely blest, No beauty could disturb my rest; My amorous heart was in despair,"
"I. Cease, Augusta! cease thy mourning, Happy days appear, Godlike Albion is returning, Loyal hearts to ch"
"Enter JANUS. Janus. Chronos, Chronos, mend thy pace; An hundred times the rolling sun Around the radiant belt has"