An Essay of Dramatic Poesy

“Annus Mirabilis” by John Dryden (1667)

Dryden composed this poem at the same time and in the same setting as “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy.” It celebrates the end of the Puritan Interregnum, the restoration of King Charles II to the throne, and naval victories against the Dutch in the trade wars, among other things. This historical context is also central to the essay.

“A Defence of an Essay of Dramatic Poesy” by John Dryden (1669)

After Dryden and his brother-in-law and fellow dramatist Robert Howard (the model for Crites) exchanged some spirited public debate about the appropriate role of nature in theatrical literature, Dryden expanded on his arguments in a written rebuttal. Dryden puts forth that audiences understand that nature is to be imitated—there is some poetic license granted, or what contemporary critics might call “willing suspension of disbelief”—rather than exactly and dutifully rendered.

Aureng-Zebe (1676) and All for Love; or, The World Well Lost (1678) by John Dryden

These two plays represent two different modes of writing for Dryden. In the first, he uses rhyme—the heroic verse that he defends in “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy.” It would be his last play to regularly utilize rhyme: The second play uses blank verse.