John Dryden

John Dryden (born 9 Augustjul / August 19 1631greg in Aldwincle, .. .. † 1 Maijul / May 12 1700greg in London) was an influential English poet, literary critic and playwright.

Life

Dryden was born in a village rectory at Oundle in Northamptonshire and attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Although his early plays, mostly tragedies, very different had success, they made known Dryden and his royalist settings. When he during Cromwell's reign came to London after the death of his father, he tried with the Republican contacts his family to earn money (his cousin was one of the judges in the trial of Charles I ), but had prior to the reintroduction of the monarchy under Charles II. had much success. Only be penned for the occasion poem Astraea redux made ​​him known to a larger extent.

1662 Dryden was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the same year he married Lady Elizabeth Howard. Real fame brought him the poem " Annus Mirabilis ," which he wrote in the four-line pentameter 1666. In 1668 he succeeded William Davenant as Poet Laureate, a post which he held until the fall II Jacob's twenty years later. During the next ten years he wrote mainly for the stage. He paved the way for the Restoration comedy - best known is Marriage a la Mode - as well as for the heroic tragedy and classical tragedy, in All for Love ( 1677) was his biggest success. As Dryden was a master of rhyming prologues and epilogues, he wrote these often for pieces of other playwrights. In addition, he wrote important essays on the drama, the longest and probably the best is the essay of Dramatick poetry of 1668th In these essays he expressed his conviction that the Elizabethan dramatists that of classical Greece exceeded, and analyzed and compared the works of William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and John Fletcher.

From about 1680 Dryden focused on the seal under masterful use of rhyming couplets, which he also wrote stage works continue and some libretti wrote. The most successful were his satirical poems: the pseudo -heroic MacFlecknoe in which he (* around 1642, † 1692 ) Thomas Shadwell attack, and Absalom and Achitophel, one directed against the Whigs political satire. Other important works from this period are the religious poems Religio Laici ( 1682) and The Hind and the Panther ( 1687 ). The former was written shortly before Dryden's conversion to Catholicism, the second shortly thereafter.

After the Glorious Revolution Dryden lost because of his political opinion, the favor of the court and had his livelihood with the writing of plays and the translation of Greek and Latin works deserve. He has translated works by Horace, Juvenal, Ovid, Lucretius, and Theocritus. Main works of this creative phase, the transmission of the complete works of Virgil (1697 ) and Fables, Ancient and Modern ( 1700), a collection of translations of Homer, Ovid, Boccaccio and modernized adaptations from Geoffrey Chaucer. The preface to the Fables is considered both as a major work of literary criticism, as well as one of the best English essays.

Dryden is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Aftermath

Dryden's work had a great influence on the English-language poetry during his lifetime and in the 18th century. His poems have been used, among others, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson as role models. Johnson's remark that Dryden " refined the language, the expression deepened and has re-tuned the melody of English poetry," features the view of the 18th century. In the 19th century Dryden decreased importance; despite the interest shown by figures such as TS Eliot, he is underestimated until now. Although the brilliance of his poetry and the power of its expression are widely recognized, many believe that Dryden " a simple mind " and it had to " lacked insight " him, as TS Eliot wrote in Homage to John Dryden. Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast or the Power of Musick was the inspiration for the two-part eponymous oratorio by George Frideric Handel.

Works

  • Astraea Redux (1660 )
  • The Indian Emperor ( 1665)
  • Annus Mirabilis ( 1667)
  • An Essay of Dramatick Poetry (1668 )
  • Tyrannick Love ( 1669)
  • Marriage A- la -Mode ( 1672)
  • The Conquest of Granada (1670 )
  • Amboyna, or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants ( 1673 )
  • All for Love ( 1678)
  • Absalom and Achitophel ( 1681)
  • The Medal ( 1682)
  • Religio Laici ( 1682)
  • The Hind and the Panther ( 1687 )
  • Amphitryon ( 1690)
  • Don Sebastian ( 1690)
  • King Arthur ( 1691)
  • Amboyna
  • The Works of Virgil (1697 )
  • Fables, Ancient and Modern ( 1700)

Source

  • General German Real - Encyclopaedia for the educated classes. Conversations -Lexikon; 10th edition, 1853, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig
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