History of English Literature I.
Age of Dryden or (The Restoration Period)
Poetry
General Introduction:
The Age of Dryden (1640-1702) covers the reigns of Charles II, James II and William III. With
the restoration of Stuart monarchy a sweeping change came over English life and letter. Almost every
writer now shows a different ways= of thinking and writes in an entirely different style. The new
literature has become practical, utilitarian. It is concerned with the real and the actual rather than with the
speculative or imaginative.
The King and his court had taken a fancy to French literature and on their return encouraged
writers to adopt French models. French literature at this time was supreme in Europe as Italy’s had been
in the 16th century. Even before the Restoration there was considerable traffic in ideas between the two
countries and French romances of Madeleine Scudery and others had become popular in England. There
was wholesale pilfering by Restoration dramatist of plots from French romances and dramas. That the
‘heroic’ plays of the Restoration were the direct result of French influence has never been denied. Men of
letters enjoyed the patronage of the great and no doubt tried to please them. In short, France did exercise
considerable influence, though this has been much exaggerated in the past. But even so, this influence by
itself does not wholly account for the change.
The real cause was dissatisfaction with the literature of the preceding age. The exuberant spirit of
the Renaissance had lasted far too long and in the nature of things could not last indefinitely. The
Elizabethan inspiration had waned. The passions that had surged and soared in Shakespeare and Webster
had degenerated into mere sensationalism in their successors. All these excesses provoked a revolt. There
was a general desire for reform.
Besides, there was a revolt against Puritanism. There was a deplorable degradation of morals,
which added to the degradation of literature. The writers who brought about this change. They are
Dryden, Butler, Earl of Dorset, Earl of Rochester, Sir Charles Sedley and Mrs. Afra Behn, in poetry;
Dryden, Sir William Temple, Archbishop Tillotson, Lord Halifax and Bishop Sprat in Prose; Dryden,
Etherege, Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh and Farquhar in drama.
Age of Dryden
Poetry
John Dryden-(1631-1700):
John Dryden was the greatest man of letters of his time. He was not only its greatest poet, but also
its greatest prose writer and its greatest dramatist.
Dryden’s Life:
John Dryden was born in (1631) in a respectable and well-connected country family. He was
educated at West Minister School and Trinity College, Cambridge. His earliest poems were the “Heroic
stanzas on the Death of Oliver Cromwell” and “Aestraea Redux or (The Happy Restoration of Charles
II)”. The plague drove him to the country where he wrote his famous “Essay on Dramatic Poesy” and a
poem on the “Great Fire of London and the Dutch War- Annus Mirabilis (Wonderful Year)”, both in
(1666). In (1670), he was appointed as poet laureate in succession to Davenant. In the height of
excitement following the Popish Plot he produced his first great satire “Absalom and Achitophel” (1681),
following it up with two others, “The Medal” and “MacFlecknoe” (1682). After these came the two
theological poems “Religio Laici” (1682), a defense of the Church of England and “The Hind and the
Panther” (1687), a defense of the Roman Catholic Church to which he had been converted soon after the
accession of the Catholic James II. During the remaining twelve years of his life he produced a few more
plays and a number of translations the most famous of which are his “Virgil and the Fables”. He died in
May (1700) and was buried in West Minister Abbey.
Dryden’s Poetical Works:
The minor poems of Dryden being occasional were produced at different time during the whole
of his literary career extending over a period of more than 40 years. The major ones were all written
during the last twenty years of his life.
Minor Poems:
1. “Heroic Stanza” (on the Death of Cromwell). This is in quatrains or the four-line stanzas familiar
to all in Gray’s elegy.
2. “Aestraea Redux” (on the Return of Charles II.) This is in heroic couplet.
3. “Annus Mirabilis” (on the Great Fire of London and the Dutch War). This is in quatrains.
4. “Threnodia Augustalis” (on the death of Charles II). This is in Pindaric stanzas .ie., stanzas in
complicated and irregular rhymes first attempted by Cowley.
5. “Britannia Rediviva” (on the birth of James II.’s son, the Ode Pretender). This is in heroic
couplet.
6. “Ode on Mrs. Killigrew”. This is in Pindaric stanza.
7. “Song on St. Cicilia’s Day” (1687). This is in Pindaric stanza.
8. “Alexander’s Feast” (1697). This is in Pindaric stanza.
The last three, “The Ode on Mrs. Killigrew”, “The Song on St. Cicilia’s Day” and “Alexander’s Feast”
are, however, still fresh in their lyrical beauty.
Major Poems:
The major poems contain Dryden’s best works and which are all written in the heroic or
decasyllabic couplet. It includes:
1. The three satires: “Absalom and Achitophel”, “The Medal” and “MacFlecknoe”.
2. The two religious poems: “Religio Laici” and “The Hind and the Panther”.
3. The miscellaneous translations of which the most famous are of “Virgil” and “The Fables”.
The Three Satires:
The two poets John Dryden and Thomas Shadwell had their political differences. The Protestant
Shadwell supported Anthony Ashley Coo per, earl of Shaftesbury, in the dispute over who should succeed
King Charles II to the English throne. Shaftes-bury championed Charles's illegitimate son, the Protestant
James Scott, duke of Monmouth, while Dryden supported the Catholic brother of Charles, James, duke of
York. Dryden had caricatured Shaftesbury in his “Absalom and Achitophel” (1681).
“Absalom and Achitophel” is a most brilliant political satire in English. The satire is disguised as
a Biblical allegory in which Charles II is David, Monmouth as Absalom and Shaftesbury, his evil
counselor as Achitophel. Dryden’s choice of diction, smooth versification, brilliant wit and above all, its
still incapable portraits of Shaftesbury and Buckingham makes it one of the most entertaining piece in
English literature.
Dryden also attacked Shaftesbury in his satire The “Medal” (1682), which parodied the Whigs
who celebrated Shaftesbury's verdict of innocence when he was tried for his part in an attempt to
overthrow Charles. Dryden characterized the jurors who freed Shaftesbury as ignoramuses, and his
followers, who cast a medal celebrating his "innocence," as ignorant revelers. The poem caused
immediate response from poets supporting Protestant interests, Shadwell included. He attacked Dryden in
his “The Medal of John Bayes” (1682).
"MacFlecknoe" appeared for the first time about six months later. “MacFlecknoe” is the finest
short satirical poem in which Dryden has treated Thomas Shadwell with humorous contempt.
“MacFlecknoe” is both a personal and literary satire. Dryden presents Shadwell as a dull poetaster, a
corpulent man and a plagiarist. Dryden’s uses the heroic couplet for satirical purposes. “MacFlecknoe” is
the first substantial mock-heroic poem and Thomas Shadwell is the hero of this epic. The poem illustrates
the qualities of Dryden's satire- the fund of truth at the bottom, the skillful adjustment of the satire so as to
make faults of the merits which are allowed, the magnificent force and variety of the verse, and the
constant maintenance of a kind of superior contempt never degenerating into mere railing or losing its
superiority in petty spite.
The Two Religious Poems:
Political controversy to religious controversy was a natural step, both religion and politics were
inextricably mixed in that age. “Religio Laici” is a defense of the Church of England against that of
Rome. “The Hind and the Panther” was the result of his conversion to the Catholic Church and is a
defense of that Church against the Church of England.
Translations:
The two of most popular Dryden’s translations are the “Virgil” (1697) and “The Fables” (1699).
Dryden’s translations are not literal, but free and loose: more in the nature of paraphrases. It will be seen
in all the major works of Dryden are in the heroic couplet. He breaks the monotony of his couplets by
occasionally using triplets. As a satirist, Dryden is too superior to Pope. Dryden’s poetry has already
captured the heart of fire, the imagination, sheer intellectual brilliance and polished versification. It is
unrivalled in the period of Restoration.
Other Satirists:
Samuel Butler-(1613-1680):
He was a poet and also a satirist. He is chiefly known for his satire “Hudibras”. Butler was also
influenced by satirists such as John Skelton and Paul Scarron's “Virgile travesty”; a satire on classical
literature, particularly Virgil. His work “Hudibras Religis”, is a bitter satire on Puritanism. It achieved
immediate and enormous popularity. It relates the adventures. They are obviously modeled on “Don
Quixote” and his “Squire Sancho”, but the comic exaggeration of the parody is “Rebelaisian”. The poem
is unique as a burlesque. Butler was undoubtedly a genius in satire.
Among the minor satirists, only two are deserved to be mentioned:
They are Marvell and John Oldham. Both of them were produced a good deal of Miscellaneous literature
including violent satires upon the Jesuits.
Lyrics:
There is some little poetry outside the satires during this period. Apart from the lyrical gift of
Dryden, we have four poets, who are lesser important than that of Dryden. They are: Earl of Dorset, Earl
of Rochester, Sir Charles Sedley and Mrs. Afra Behn.
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1633-1696), was a court wit and poet who helped for the
establishment of English satirical poetry. John Dryden dedicated to Rochester his comedy “Marriage A-
la-Mode” in complimentary terms, acknowledging his help in writing it. Wilmot is generally considered
to be the most considerable poet and the most learned among the Restoration wits. A few of his love
songs have passionate intensity; many are bold and frankly erotic celebrations of the pleasures of the
flesh. He is also one of the most original and powerful of English satirists. His “History of Insipids”
(1676) is a devastating attack on the government of Charles II, and his “Maim’d Debauchee” has been
described as “a masterpiece of heroic irony.” A Satyr Against Mankind (1675) anticipates Swift in its
scathing denunciation of rationalism and optimism and in the contrast it draws between human perfidy
and folly and the instinctive wisdom of the animal world. Yet Rochester's poetry, in his limpid love lyrics,
lampoons, burlesques, and sharp satires, has an abiding presence. The philosophical and religious
undertow—often detected in the deep disgust and misanthropic attitudes, the obverse of aristocratic
insouciance—has especially fascinated modern readers.
Sir Charles Sedley, (1639-1701), was an English noble, poet and dramatist and politician. He was
principally remembered for his wit and profligacy. His most famous song, "Phyllis is My Only Joy", is
much more widely known now than the author's name. While Sedley chiefly produced light amatory
verse and pastoral dialogues in the 1670s, he turned to satirical epigrams in the 1680s and 1690s. His
Epigrams: or, Court Characters are modeled on the works of Martial. In his epigram "To Nysus", for
example, Sedley describes the function of satire and emphasizes the aggressive mode of satire. At the
same time, Sedley translated other specimens of ancient poetry, such as Virgil's Georgics IV, the eighth
Ode of the second Book of Horace and three elegies from Ovid's Amores. Dryden included Sedley's
translations from Ovid in the Miscellany of 1684.
Afra Behn (1640-1689), was an English playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the
Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural
barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. She belonged to a
coterie of poets and famous libertines such as John Wilmot, Lord Rochester. She wrote under the pastoral
pseudonym Astrea. During the turbulent political times of the Exclusion Crisis, she wrote an epilogue and
prologue that brought her into legal trouble; she thereafter devoted most of her writing to prose genres
and translations. A staunch supporter of the Stuart line, she declined an invitation from Bishop Burnet to
write a welcoming poem to the new king William III. She died shortly after. She is remembered in
Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own: "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of
Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she
who earned them the right to speak their minds." “Poems upon Several Occasions, with A Voyage to the
Island of Love” (1684) and “Lycidus”; or, “The Lover in Fashion” (1688) are her famous poetry
collections.
Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset-(1643-1706), was an English poet and a typical courtier of
the British king Charles II. He was a munificent patron to many men of letters, and a friend of John
Dryden. Dorset was himself a poet whose satires in heroic couplets anticipated and influenced the style of
Alexander Pope.
