SECTION I.


_Preliminary Remarks on the Poetry of England before the Civil Wars--
The Life of Dryden from his Birth till the Restoration--His early Poems,
including the "Annus Mirabilis."_

The Life of Dryden may be said to comprehend a history of the Literature
of England, and its changes, during nearly half a century. While his
great contemporary Milton was in silence and secrecy laying the
foundation of that immortal fame, which no poet has so highly deserved
Dryden's labours were ever in the eye of the public; and he maintained,
from the time of the Restoration till his death, in 1700, a decided and
acknowledged superiority over all the poets of his age. As he wrote from
necessity, he was obliged to pay a certain deference to the public
opinion; for he, whose bread depends upon the success of his volume, is
compelled to study popularity; but, on the other hand, his better
judgment was often directed to improve that of his readers; so that he
alternately influenced and stooped to the national taste of the day. If,
therefore, we would know the gradual changes which took place in our
poetry during the above period, we have only to consult the writings of
an author, who produced yearly some new performance allowed to be most
excellent in the particular style which was fashionable for the time. It
is the object of this memoir to connect, with the account of Dryden's
life and publications such a general view of the literature of the time,
as may enable the reader to estimate how far the age was indebted to the
poet, and how far the poet was influenced by the taste and manners of
the age. A few preliminary remarks on the literature of the earlier part