John Dryden

Born in Northamptonshire in 1631, John Dryden became one of the most important literary figures in late 17th-century England. He studied at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and built a remarkably varied career as a poet, playwright, critic, and translator.

Dryden was appointed Poet Laureate in 1668 and came to dominate the literary culture of the Restoration so completely that the era is often linked with his name. He wrote for the stage, produced major satirical and political poems, and helped define English literary criticism with clear, forceful prose.

Readers still return to him for works such as Absalom and Achitophel, Mac Flecknoe, and Alexander's Feast, as well as for his translations of classical writers including Virgil. Even when modern readers meet him through a single poem, they are encountering a writer who helped set the tone for English poetry and criticism for generations.