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Article: Dryden, John (1631–1700)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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DRYDEN, JOHN (1631
–
1700)
DRYDEN, JOHN
(1631
–
1700), English poet, playwright, critic, and translator. Dryden was born on 9 August 1631 at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, the son of Erasmus Dryden and Mary (nee Pickering). He was educated at Westminster School, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge. His first poem was an elegy published in
Lachrymae Musarum
(1649), a collection mourning the death of Henry, Lord Hastings. Although his family had Parliamentarian allegiances, Dryden was taught at Westminster by the charismatic Royalist Richard Busby, whose influence is evident in this early elegy.
The death of his father in 1654 left Dryden in need of a regular income to ...