The Poems of John Dryden
Volume Four 1693-1696
The poems of John Dryden is a four-volume edition of the poetry of John Dryden (1631-1700) resulting from a complete reappraisal of the canon, the text, and the context of his work. The modernised text is prepared from a fresh examination of early printed editions, and takes account of the large number of surviving manuscripts. The annotation is particularly substantial for the most important poems and a headnote accompanies each one, giving details of its date, circumstances, publication history, sources and contemporary reception.
Volumes One and Two (published in 1995) covered poems published between 1649 and 1685, including his historical poem Annus Mirabilis, his celebrated satires Mac Flecknoe, Absalom and Achitophel, and The Medal, and his sustained meditation on religious faith and authority, Religio Laici.
Volume Three covers poems published between 1686 and 1693, a watershed period which saw Dryden's fall from official favour at the Revolution of 1688-9. A major item in this volume is the Hind and the Panther, Dryden's apologia for his new Roman catholic beliefs. The extensive headnote and annotation to this poem explain its allegorical procedures and subtle theological arguments, while also analysing its use of sources. Another principal inclusion in Volume Three is the Discourse Concerning Satire, Dryden's extended critique of the history and practice of satire - the most substantial and influential essay on the topic in the seventeenth century. The headnote guides the reader through Dryden's somewhat circuitous argument, and the substantial annotation documents the relation of Dryden's text to previoustreatments of the subject. The volume also includes a number of important poems prompted by public events and private friendships.
Volume Four covers poems published between 1693 and 1696, principally Dryden's translations from Juvenal and Persius, and those from Ovid and Homer i
