receive the brilliant work of Etheridge, the vigor of Wycherley, and, as
the century drew near its close, the dashing wit of Congreve, Vanbrugh,
and Farquhar. This burst of brilliancy, in which the Restoration drama
closes, was the prelude to the Augustan Age of Queen Anne and the first
Georges, the period wherein flourished that group of self-satisfied,
exceptionally clever, ultra-classical wits who added a peculiar zest and
charm to our literature. As Dryden grew to old age, these younger men
were already beginning to make themselves heard, though none had done
great work. In poetry there were Prior, Gay, and Pope, while in prose we
find names that stand high in the roll of fame,--the story-teller Defoe,
the bitter Swift, the rollicking Dick Steele, and delightful Addison.

This is the background in politics, society, and letters on which the
life of Dryden was laid during the last half of the seventeenth century.
There were conditions in his environment which materially modified his
life and affected his literary form, and without a knowledge of these
conditions no study of the man or his works can be effective or
satisfactory. Dryden was preeminently a man of his times.


* * * * *

LIFE OF DRYDEN.


John Dryden was born at the vicarage of Aldwinkle, All Saints, in
Northamptonshire, August 9, 1631. His father, Erasmus Dryden, was the
third son of Sir Erasmus Dryden of Cannons Ashby. The estate descended
to Dryden's uncle, John, and is still in the family. His mother was Mary
Pickering. Both the Drydens and Pickerings were Puritans, and were