Rice University

Dryden's "Essay of Dramatick Poesie": The Poet and the World of Affairs
Author(s): Cedric D. Reverand II
Source: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 22, No. 3, Restoration and Eighteenth
Century (Summer, 1982), pp. 375-393
Published by: Rice University
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 SEL 22 (1982)
ISSN 0039-3657

Dryden's"Essay of Dramatick Poesie":

The Poet and the World of Affairs
CEDRIC D. REVERAND II

In his dedicatoryepistleto Allfor Love (1678), addressed to the Earl

of Danby, Dryden in passing commentson a topic that occupied his
attentionthroughouthis career-the relationshipbetween the poet'
and the world of affairs:

There is somewhat of a tie in nature betwixtthose who are

born for worthyactions and those who can transmitthem to
posterity,and thoughoursbe much theinferiorpart, it comes at
least withinthe vergeof alliance; nor are we unprofitablemem-
bers of the commonwealthwhen we animate others to those
virtueswhich we copy and describe fromyou.2

As with many passages in Dryden, this one simultaneouslygives and

takes: Dryden tactfullydefersto this powerfulpolitical figure(Danby
had been Lord High Treasurer since 1673) and yet assertsan alliance
and equality. Drydenboth affirmsthe artist'sindebtednessto thosewho
perform"worthyactions," fromwhom "we copy and describe,"yetalso
insiststhat the act of copying itself affectsthe world of affairsby
animatingothers.Similarly,"To myHonour'd Kinsman,JohnDriden"
(1700) has the same give and take, with Dryden both deferringto the
worthyman of action and yet not quite deferring:

Cedric D. Reverand II is a Professorof English at the Universityof Wyoming. He has

published a number of articles on Dryden and on Pope, and he is currentlywritinga
book on Dryden's Fables.

'Throughout this essay I am using "poet" in a broad sense, not in distinction to

dramatist, or critic,or even artist,but rather in its root sense as "maker" (from Latin
poeta, Greek poz'etes). This is justified, given Dryden's role as writerof prose, drama,
poems, translations,and given Dryden's continual interestin fellow artistsof other
media, especiallypainting(in the Killigrewand Kneller poems) and music (in the twoSt.
Cecilia's Day odes and the poem to Purcell).
2JohnDryden: Allfor Love, ed. David M. Vieth (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press,
1972), p. 3.

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376 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

Two of a House, few Ages can afford;

One to perform,another to record.
Praise-worthyActions are by thee embrac'd;
And 'tis my Praise, to make thy Praises last.
For ev'n when Death dissolvesour Humane Frame,
The Soul returnsto Heav'n, fromwhence it came;
Earth keeps the Body, Verse preservesthe Fame. J
(lines 203-209)3

There is a sharp distinctionbetween the worthycitizenwhose "Praise-

worthyActions" have been celebrated throughoutthe poem and the
poet who merelyrecords. Yet Dryden says that his familyboasts two
equally important figures,and the poet who confers fame thereby
performspraiseworthyactions of his own. Next to Danby and Driden,
men of action whosesphereis the political world,the poet seems to play
an inferiorpart, but he playsa real part, or as Drydenmightput it, a not
unprofitablepart.
What Drydenhas to say about the part the poet plays in the worldof
politics,decisions,actions is particularlyinteresting,given the circum-
stances of his own career. His own role shifteddrastically,frompoet
laureate and historiographerroyal, to political outcast, fromofficial
spokesman called upon to proclaim his viewsto the public, to deposed
laureate, "strugglingwithwants,oppressedwithsickness,curbed in my
genius,liable to be misconstruedin all I write"(postscriptto theA eneis,
1697).4 Not too surprisingly,Drydentreatsthisrelationshipbetweenthe
poet and the world of affairsin a varietyof ways, depending on the
occasion, the genre, the personal circumstances, and so on. In a
high-flownPindaric, such as the ode to Anne Killigrew(1685), Dryden
can depict theartistas all powerful,marchingforwardlike Louis XIV to

3The textsfor all referencesto Dryden's poetryare taken from The Poems ofJohn
Dryden, ed. James Kinsley, 4 vols. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1958), henceforth
referredto as Kinsley. Line referencesare given in parentheses.
4JohnDryden: Of Dramatic Poesy and other Critical Essays, ed. George Watson, 2
vols. (New York: Dutton, 1962), 2:258, henceforthreferredto as Watson. Since the
California Dryden (henceforthreferredto as Works) is not yet complete, I have used
Watson forcertainprose quotations: citationsto the "Essay ofDramatick Poesie" and the
dedicatory letter to The Conquest of Granada, however, are from the text of the
California Dryden: The WorksofJohn Dryden, ed. H. T. Swedenberg,Jr., et al., 20
vols. (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press), 17(1971) and 11(1978). For detailed discus-
sions of Dryden's roles and how theyaffectedhis work,see James D. Garrison,Dryden
and the Tradition of Panegyric (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1975); Michael
McKeon, Politics and Poetry in Restoration England: The Case of Dryden's "Annus
Mirabilis" (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1975); and George McFadden,
Dryden the Public Writer,1660-1685 (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1978).

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 377

conquer the realm of painting,so that "All bow'd beneath her Govern-
ment, / Receiv'd in Triumph wheresoe'reshe went" (lines 104-105).
The special power of thispoet-artistexpands, so that by the end of the
poem she is shownleading all souls at the LastJudgment,"As Harbinger
of Heav'n, the Way to show" (line 194), and we should not forgetthat
literallya harbingeris a militaryfigurewho goes ahead of the troopsto
prepare for their lodging. In the equally exalted "Alexander's Feast"
(1697), Drydenagain envisionsthe poet as especiallypowerful,thistime
byhavinghis centralfigure,Timotheus,whomJohnHollander calls the
"poet-musician-rhetorician-hero,"5 manipulate Alexander the Great:
Timotheus sootheshim, melts him withfeelingsof pity,rouses him to
vengefulmilitaryaction, and in general pulls stringslike a puppetmas-
ter. In the latterpoem, the artistis envisionedas the powerfulleader of
leaders, and in the former,as the leader of all mankind.
Even in poems lackingsuch baroque grandeurand hyperbole,Dryden
can make daring claims about the poet's power. His poem to Sir Robert
Howard (1660), forinstance,depicts the poet once again as a powerful
militaryfigure:

Like some brave Captain, your successfulPen

Restoresthe Exil'd to her Crown again;
And gives us hope, that having seen the days
When nothingflourish'dbut Fanatique Bays,
All will at length in this opinion rest,
"A sober Prince's Governmentis best."
(lines 49-54)

Ostensibly,Drydenis talkingabout Howard's restorationof the Muse of

Poetry,and the "sober Prince" in control of this new governmentis
Howard. But ofcourse,as Earl Wassermanobserves,thepoem sustainsa
parallel betweentherealmsofpoetryand politics,and the above passage
refersto both a restorationand The Restoration.6This is, I think,more
than a fortuitousparallel; Dryden is implyingthat one restoration
validates and confirmsthe other,thatwhat the poet does in his realm is
significant,for it has a direct bearing on political events.
Dryden also endows Howard with special authorityas a prophet:

5JohnHollander, The Untuning of the Sky: Ideas of Music in English Poetry,

1550-1700 (1961; rpt. New York: Norton, 1970), p. 412.
6Earl Wasserman, The Subtler Language (Baltimore: JohnsHopkins Press, 1959), p.
16.

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378 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

But what we most admire, your Verse no lesse

The Prophet than the Poet doth confesse.
Ere our weak eyes discern'd the doubtfullstreak
Of light,you saw great Charls his morningbreak.
(lines 87-90)

As a prophet,the poet is God's spokesman, and withsuch authorityhe

must be listenedto. As Earl Miner pointsout, speaking of Dryden and
the public mode, "men had been taughtto listento othermen out of a
convictionthatwhat was said mattered,"and poets would speak "know-
ing that theywould be attended to."7 It is with such convictionthat
Dryden can voice his opinions in such poems as "Absalom and Achi-
tophel" (1681) and "The Medall" (1682); in both, he foretells,as does
Howard, the outcome of political events,and he even instructshis king
in "Absalom and Achitophel," bydepictingkinglybehavior,by advising
the assertion of firmness,this to a king he dared criticize as being
anythingbut firm(a king who was "Mild, Easy," and "Enclin'd to
Mercy,"lines 325-26). In so doing, Drydenbecomes, like Timotheus, a
leader ofleaders, an importantspokesmanwho speaks withtheexpecta-
tion of being heard and the knowledge that he is capable of shaping
opinion and affectingeventsin the political sphere.

At othertimes,however,the prophet'svoice is unheard, and farfrom

being a powerfulinfluence,the poet is seen as powerless,constrainedby
his age rather than a force helping shape that age. Naturally, such
images abound in thoseyearsafterDryden'sloss of the laureateship. In
"To my Dear Friend Mr. Congreve" (1694), forexample, Dryden ad-
dressesan unreceptiveworldwhose officialvoices are thoseof Shadwell
and Rymer,an age where"Poetryis curs'd; / For Tom the Second reigns
like Tom the first"(lines 47-48). Far frombeing the leader of mankind,
far fromissuingpronouncementsthat will be listenedto, Dryden must
resignhimselfto theworld'snegligence.Similarly,in "Eleonora" (1692),
Dryden builds an elaborate picture of Virtue as a kind of exemplum,
and then, instead of exhortingthe age to attend and learn, goes on
bitterlyto lament the disjunctionbetween the values he celebrates and
those of the age; Dryden claims he

dares to sing thy Praises, in a Clime

Where Vice triumphs,and Vertue is a Crime;
Where ev'n to draw the Picture of thyMind,

7Earl Miner, The Restoration Mode from Milton to Dryden (Princeton: Princeton
Univ. Press, 1974), pp. 14-15.

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 379

Is Satyron the most of Humane Kind:

Take it, while yet 'tis Praise; before my rage
Unsafelyjust, break loose on this bad Age.
(lines 363-68)

Since such an age willnot listento theprophetin itsmidst,Drydenmust

resthis hopes on the future:"So shall thisVerse preservethyMemory"
(line 376). He does the same thingin "To Sir GodfreyKneller" (1694),
another poem in which he sees the age, "these InferiourTimes" (line
118), as an antagonisticforce.Far frombeing a powerfulfigureleading
mankind, the poet is now victimof his age, his genius "bounded by the
Times" (line 147). And far frombeing a Timotheus figurecapable of
leading leaders, Dryden is now constrainedto follow,to be a subject:

But we who Life bestow, our selves must live;

Kings cannot Reign, unless theirSubjects give.
And theywho pay the Taxes, bear the Rule.
(lines 154-56)

Such examples indicate the range of Dryden's view of the poet's

efficacy,a range thatincludes optimismand pessimism,that runsfrom
exalted images ofthepoet as leader ofmankind,as powerfulconqueror,
as prophetwithGod-given authority,to the poet as victimof his times,
as unattendedvoice of protest,as conquered. Obviously,Drydenon the
one hand acknowledgesthe limitationsand restrictions imposed by the
world of affairs,and on the other hand sustains a belief in the poet's
ultimatesignificanceand efficacy.What is not so obviousis thatDryden
sustainsboth theseattitudessimultaneouslyand consistently;the exam-
ples I have cited stressthe one or the other, but this is a matter of
emphasisdependingon the context,circumstances,and occasion of the
poem. These attitudesare informedby a steady underlyingvision, a
visionsufficientlycomprehensiveto include both extremesof the poet as
conquerer and as conquered, to accommodate both idealism and real-
ism; the quotations fromthe letterto Danby and "To my Honour'd
Kinsman" implyas much with theirhintsabout the poet's importance
that coexist with suggestionsthat the poet is inferiorto those born to
worthyactions.
On this whole issue I find the "Essay of Dramatick Poesie" to be
particularlyilluminating,forone of the questionsit poses has to do with
the relevanceof all the literarydiscussionto the worldof affairs.For the
moment, let us set aside the actual subjects that Crites, Eugenius,
Lisideius, and Neander discuss and instead focus on the frameworkin
which thisdiscussiontakes place. If we accept the standard identifica-
tionsof thesecharacters-Sir RobertHoward (Crites), Sir Charles Sack-

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380 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

ville, Lord Buckhurst(Eugenius), Sir Charles Sedley (Lisideius), and

Dryden (Neander)8-we discoverthat theyare all practicing authors,
and what we hear, far frombeing just an exercise in debate, is what
literarymen have to say on "thatmemorable day, in the firstSummerof
the late War, when our Navy ingag'd the Dutch" (Works, 17:8). How
relevant and powerfulcan these words frompracticing authors be if
theirentirediscussiontakesplace in a boat thatdriftsawayfromLondon
and fromthesoundsofthecannon, untilthosesoundsseem to them"like
thenoise ofdistantThunder" (p. 9)? In thatworldwheremen are dying,
where "the command of the greaterhalf of the Globe" (p. 8) is being
disputed, wherethe fateof a nation is being decided, who can hear the
voices of these poets who have "disingag'd themselves"(p. 8) from
anchored vessels?And who cares about the thingsthat Lisideius, Euge-
nius, Crites, and Neander say in theirdriftingboat? In the last para-
graph ofthe "Essay,"whereDrydenclosesthe scene, he createsa striking
image that makes literarymattersseem evanescent:

The companywere all sorryto separate so soon, thougha great

part of the eveningwas alreadyspent; and stood a whilelooking
back on the water, upon which the Moon-beams play'd, and
made it appear like floatingquick-silver: at last theywent up
througha crowdofFrench people who weremerrilydancing in
the open air, and nothingconcern'd forthe noise of our Guns
which had allarm'd the Town that afternoon.Walking thence
togetherto thePiazze theyparted there;Eugenius and Lisideius
to some pleasant appointmenttheyhad made, and Critesand
Neander to theirseveral Lodgings.
(pp. 80-81)

All thattheyhave discussedwhilein the boat belongsto a fantasyland of

"Moon-beams" and "quick-silver"; far from being important, their
discussion appears to them as shimmering,insubstantial,evanescent,
now thattheyhave solid groundunder theirfeet.And the communityof
poet-critics they had comprised vanishes, for it existed only in the
never-neverland of "Moon-beams"; it cannot exist in the world of
affairs,wheremen have appointmentsand separate lodgings.This is the
world of "worthyactions" whereinpoets play an "inferiorpart."
Yet ifthisis one implicationof Dryden'ssettinghis discussionamidst
quick-silver and away fromthe solid ground of national affairs,the
same scene worksto anotherend as well. Dryden is creatinga parallel
betweentwointernationalengagements,the one a naval battle between

8Despite much critical debate, the traditional identificationsof these characters,

derived fromEdmond Malone, seem justified,as Stanley Archer demonstratesin "The
Persons in An Essay of Dramatic Poesy," PLL 2(Fall 1966):305-14.

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 381

the Englishand the Dutch, the othera literarydebate, and the parallel
itselfsuggeststhat both these activitiesmay be similarlyimportantin
determiningthe fateof England.9The essaybeginson "thatmemorable
day" when the English navy defeated the Dutch, but it is not the navy
alone thatwinsa victoryforEngland. Afterall, in thecourseoftheessay,
the men in the boat win a kind of victoryforthe Englishby vindicating
"the honour of our English Writers,from the censure of those who
unlustlypreferthe French beforethem" (p. 7), as Dryden describeshis
purpose in his prefatoryremarks"To the Reader." They manage to
establish the English dramatic tradition: they name the significant
Englishdramatists,therebysolidifyingtheirliteraryheritage;theyeven
distinguishEnglish dramaturgyfrom both the French and Ancient
traditions.By the end of the essay, England has "won" both militarily
and culturally,and theparallel betweenthesetwosetsof events,like the
parallel in the poem to Sir Robert Howard, argues that what these
poet-criticsdecide out in the boat may be just as relevantto England's
greatness,just as significantin definingEngland, as what the English
navy achieves with its guns.
The questionis how can thevoice ofthepoet both remainin a worldof
"floatingquick-silver,"away fromthe din of society,unheard by the
people on the shore, and at the same timebe a significantand effective
voice in that world of action: how can the poet be the voice to whom
nobody will listen, as in the Congreve poem and "Eleonora," and the
powerfulvoice thatleads societyand instructskings,as in the Killigrew
ode and "Alexander's Feast"? As in the letterto Danby, here the two
views coexist, neither receiving primary emphasis. Edward Pechter
points out that the many seeminglycontradictoryviews presented by
characters in the "Essay of Dramatick Poesie" are "differentbut not
contradictory or antithetical,"and thattryingto decide whetherDryden
is in favorofone attitudeor of anotheramountsto lookingforthewrong
thing. Dryden "perceives literaryqualities in termsof complementa-
ries- both/and; a statementofpreferencein an exclusivesense, either/
or, tendsto be thelastkindofstatementthatDrydenwishesto make. "10 I
thinkthe same applies to the seeminglyconflictingviewsabout poetry's
relevance implied by the frameworkof the essay; the whole essay,
frameworkand criticaldebate, is a tellingexample of Dryden'scompre-
hensivevision.

9Alan Roper stressesthe significanceof this parallel in "Characteristicsof Dryden's

Prose," ELH 41(Winter 1974):668-92 (see particularlypp. 691-92).
'?Edward Pechter, Dryden's Classical Theory of Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge
Univ. Press, 1975), pp. 5, 12.

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382 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

The dedicatoryletterto Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst,provides

us with useful information.Unfortunately,this letteris omitted from
most reprintsof the "Essay," I suspect because Dryden'sfulsomepraise
of a minorpoetic talentis embarrassingor irritatingto Dryden'seditors.
But the letter,unfamiliaras it may be to many studentsof Dryden, is
part of the framework,and it becomes especially revelatorybecause
Buckhurst is both a poet and a man with political ambitions and
responsibilities;he both belongs in the boat, wherehe sitsas Eugenius,
and on the shore of the world of affairs,where he marches offto an
appointment.The letterfocuseson the conflictbetweenthesetwo roles
fate has assigned Buckhurst;Dryden begins by alluding to Buckhurst's
writingwhile lamentingthat he has deserted this career too soon:

Yet, my Lord, you must sufferme a littleto complain of you,

thatyou too soon withdrawfromus a contentment,ofwhichwe
expected the continuance,because yougave it us so early. 'Tis a
revoltwithoutoccasion fromyourParty,whereyourmeritshad
alreadyrais'd youto thehighestcommands, and whereyou have
not the excuse of other men that you have been ill us'd, and
thereforelaid down Armes. . . . It was an honour whichseem'd
to wait foryou, to lead out a new Colony of Writersfromthe
Mother Nation: and upon the firstspreading of your Ensignes
therehad been manyin a readinessto have follow'dso fortunate
a Leader. ...
I am almostof opinion, that we should forceyou to accept of
the command, as sometimesthe Praetorian Bands have com-
pell'd theirCaptains to receive the Empire.
(pp. 3-4)
As in the Killigrew ode, the militarymetaphor, which is sustained
throughoutthededicatoryletterand throughoutthebasic frameworkof
the essay itself,makes the poetic enterpriseseem mighty;writersare
armed warriorswho would establish colonies, spread their ensigns,
assume the command of empires, all of which is reminiscentof Anne
Killigrewstretchingher sway."I But of course Buckhursthas put aside
hiscommand; he is revoltingfromhispartyand insteadenteringintothe

"'Few criticsdeal withthe prefatoryletter,but Thomas H. Fujimura, in "The Temper

ofJohnDryden," SP 72 (July1975):348-66, uses it as evidence ofjust thissortofmilitary
metaphor to which Drydenwas so oftenattracted(especially pp. 358-59). Years later, in
his "Discourse Concerning the Original and Progressof Satire" (1693), also addressed to
Buckhurst, Dryden used the same metaphor to make a similar point, that Buckhurst
should writemore often:"we [theworld]would not refuseyou halfyourtime: ifyou came
out, like some great monarch, to take a town but once a year, as it were for your
diversion, though you had no need to extend your territories"(Watson, 2:77).

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 383

worldof affairs,and here Dryden'scommentsare particularlyrevealing

and worthquoting at some length:

The Court, which is the best and surestjudge of writing,has

generallyallow'd of Verse; and in the Town it has found fa-
vourersof Wit and Quality. As for your own particular, My
Lord, you have yetyouth,and timeenough to givepart of them
to the divertisementof the Publick, before you enter into the
seriousand more unpleasant businessof the world. That which
the French Poet said of the Temple of Love, may be as well
apply'd to the Temple of the Muses. The words,as near as I can
rememberthem, were these:

Le jeune homme, a mauvaise grace,

N'ayant pas adore dans le temple d'Amour.
Il faut qu'il entre, & pour le sage
Si ce n'est pas son vraysejour
C'est un giste sur son passage.

I leave the wordsto worktheireffectupon your Lordship in

theirown Language, because no other can so well express the
nobleness of the thought: And wish you may be soon call'd to
bear a part in the affairsof the Nation, where I knowthe world
expectsyou, and wonderswhyyou have been so long forgotten.
(pp. 4-5)

Suddenly,aftercreatinga metaphoraffirming the conqueringpowerof

poetry,Dryden calls the whole artisticenterprisea "divertisement,"
somethingquite separate from"the affairsoftheNation." The untraced
French quotation, witha differentimage, reinforcesthisidea, for"the
seriousand more unpleasant businessof the world"becomes the proper
destinationforthewiseman, and poetry,byimplication,is an unserious
business,a refuge("giste") along the way, a templemore suitable to the
young man than to the mature.
Drydenis not yetfinishedwithhis metaphors,though: he goes on to
call poetrysomethingelse again, this time relyingupon some lines of
Davenant's:

But in the mean time yourLordship may imitatethe course of

Nature, who givesus theflowerbeforethefruit:thatI mayspeak
to youin thelanguage of the Muses, whichI have takenfroman
excellent Poem to the King.

As Nature, when she fruit designs, thinksfit

By beauteous blossomsto proceed to it;
And while she does accomplish all the Spring,
Birds to her secret operationssing.

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384 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

I confessI have no greaterreason, in addressingthisEssay to

your Lordship, then that it might awaken in you the desire of
writingsomething,in whateverkind it be, which might be an
honour to our Age and Country.
(p. 5)

I thinkthispassage helps resolvethe issue, forin it Drydenhas created a

metaphorin whichpoetryis both apparentlytrivialand vital. As in the
Temple oftheMuses passage, poetryseemsirrelevantto thoseinterested
in more serious things, those interestedin the fruitrather than the
merelydecorativeflower,thosewiselyinterestedin thejourneytowarda
true home ("vraysejour") ratherthan in youthfuldalliance along the
trail. But, Dryden insists,the floweris necessary.Without it, and the
pollination nature provides (through birds, as it was then thought),
there can be no fruit. Dryden does not for an instant think poetry
irrelevant;it is powerful,crucial to a society,and an accomplished poet
is everybit as much "an honourto our Age and Country"as a statesman.
However, it is onlyto those who can see the larger pattern,in thiscase
those who can see not just the final product of the plant but the whole
"course of Nature," that such seeminglywastefulenterprisescan be
understood as deeply and secretlynecessaryenterprises.
The disquietingthingis that ratherthan proclaim the relevance of
poetryto society,as we mightexpect thisexemplar of thepublic mode to
do, Drydenin his lettermerelyhintsat it. This is not altogethersurpris-
ing; since Dryden is addressing Buckhurst, a man of some political
importance(he would later be Lord Chamberlain to the Household of
William III), Dryden must acknowledge the significanceof the things
Buckhurstholds dear, whichis also the case in Dryden'sletterto Danby.
This is simplya matteroftactin thepresenceof a patron. All thesame, I
ratherthinkDryden'sdeferentialnod to "the seriousand more unpleas-
ant business of the world" is tongue in cheek, especially since the
prefatoryletteris laced withmetaphorsimplyingthat such a diversion-
aryactivityas poetryis in itselfpowerfuland important.Drydenhas an
abiding faithin the relevanceof the seeminglyirrelevant,but that faith
coexists with an awareness of the inabilityof the world of affairsto
recognizeor acknowledgethe importanceof creativeenterprises.That
theyare crucial to societyremainspart of a "secretoperation." However
powerful and important poet-makers may be, from the shore such
endeavorswillalwaysappear to be moonbeams and floatingquicksilver.
It is thisattitude,I think,that informsall of Dryden'spoems dealing
withthe poet's power and relevance. The changes of emphasis can be
consideredas changes in vantage point, depending on whetherDryden
is lookingprimarilyat thosein the boat, or at thoseon the shore. When
Drydenis focusingon theworldof affairsand action, he is readilyaware

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 385

thatthepowerofpoetrywillnotbe acknowledged,willnotbe noticed. It

is such a worldthat,in "Eleonora," Drydenadmitswillnot listento him,
such a worldthat, in the poem to Congreve,keeps bestowingitshonors
on the wrong poets and fails to recognize its true, powerful,accom-
plished laureate:

Oh that your Brows my Lawrel had sustain'd,

Well had I been Depos'd, if You had reign'd!
The Father had descended for the Son;
For only You are lineal to the Throne.
(lines 41 -44)

Of course, thishas not happened, forthe worldhas cursed poetry(lines

47-48) bybestowingitslaureate wreathon Shadwell; it is normal, in the
operation of that world, for all poets to be "too little and too lately
known" ("To the Memoryof Mr. Oldham"(1684), line 1). From the
vantage point of the shore, true poets almost invariablyare unnoticed.
This does not mean that poets are powerless,but merelythat they
appear so fromtheshore; balanced against thepictureof theungrateful
worldin "To Congreve"is an image of Drydenas prophet,assertingthe
poet's true, albeit unacknowledged, role and responsibility:

Yet this I Prophesy;Thou shalt be seen,

(Tho' with some short Parenthesisbetween:)
High on the Throne of Wit.
(lines 51-53)

He later asks that Congreve

Be kind to my Remains; and oh defend,

Against Your Judgment,Your departed Friend!
Let not the InsultingFoe my Fame pursue;
But shade those Lawrels which descend to You:
And take for Tribute what these Lines express:
You meritmore; nor cou'd my Love do less.
(lines 72-77)

In essence, it does not matterwhat the world has done with its laurel
wreath,forDrydenhas kept the real one intact, has handed it down to
hissuccessor,and in theprocesshas servedas prophet.He has also served
as poet-maker, for in the course of this poem, as in the "Essay of
Dramatick Poesie," Dryden manages to define, and therebyestablish,
the English dramatic tradition, Congreve's "Native Store" (line 61).
Dryden singles out the playwrightswhiocomprise that tradition and
names theirparticularstrengths:Fletcherand his "easie Dialogue" (line
20), Jonsonand his "strengthofJudgment"(line 22), righton through

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386 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

Etherege,Southerne,Wycherley,and of course, Shakespeare. By being

of thatcompany,Drydendoes not exactlyend up defeated. Indeed, it is
onlyin thatworldofpatronage and politics,a worldfilledwithinsulting
foes,falselaureates, and falsehistoriographers royal(a historiographer
too is a kind of maker), that Dryden appears defeated. By definingthe
Englishtradition,byactingas prophetand maker,bykeepingthelaurel
alive and assigningtributeto a rightfulheir, Dryden achieves a kind of
victory,though it is a victoryonly Congreve, Dryden, and the sympa-
theticreader would be able to appreciate.
The same is truein the otherapparentlypessimisticpoems; although
the voice of the true poet goes unheeded, still Dryden speaks with the
knowledgeof poetry'sultimateefficacy.In the Kneller poem, the times
have limitedboth thegenius of Kneller and thatof Dryden,but Dryden
intimatesthat this limitationis only apparent; as he tells about the
hostiletimes,he criticizesKneller fornot equaling the great paintersof
Rome and Venice, and it is the age that is to blame:

That yet thou hast not reach'd theirhigh Degree

Seems only wanting to this Age, not thee:
Thy Genius bounded by the Times like mine,
Drudges on pettyDraughts, nor dare design
A more Exalted Work, and more Divine.
For what a Song, or senceless Opera
Is to the Living Labour of a Play;
Or, what a Play to Virgil'sWork wou'd be,
Such is a single Piece to History.
(lines 145-53)

On theone hand, Drydenadmitsthatthe timeshave forcedhim to work

on the lesser genres, songs, operas, plays, the very works that had
occupied his yearssince the loss of the laureateship, and the timeshave
prohibitedboth artistsfromcompletingnoble works,a historypainting
forKneller(highestofthe artisticgenres),an epic forDryden. But at the
timeof the Knellerpoem, Drydenhad alreadycommittedhimselfto his
translationof Virgil, a sample of which appears in the same volume as
the Kneller poem. 12 In short,Dryden acquiesces to the bounding times
and at thesame timehintsthathe willtranscendthemby accomplishing
somethingof epic scope and significance.
The passage that followsreturnsto the issue of the pressuresthat the
hostileage of William III applies upon the artist,but even here, Dryden
assertsthe artist'spower and powerlessnesssimultaneously:

'2For more detailed informationon the circumstancessurroundingthispoem, see my

article,"Dryden on Drydenin 'To Sir GodfreyKneller,"' PLL 17 (Spring 1981): 164- 80.

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 387

But we who Life bestow, our selves must live;

Kings cannot Reign, unless theirSubjects give.
And theywho pay the Taxes, bear the Rule:
Thus thou sometimesart forc'd to draw a Fool:
But so his Follies in thyPosture sink,
The senceless Ideot seems at least to think.
(lines 154-59)

Under kingslikeWilliam III, the artistmust"pay the Taxes" and "bear

the Rule," forhe is merelyan obedient and powerlesssubject. But in the
linesthatfollow,Drydenturnsthat around and makes artistskingswho
in turn have power over their subjects. Those they depict "stand re-
corded, at theirown request, / To futureDays, a Libel or a jeast" (lines
162-63).
As in the Congreve poem and in the "Essay," Dryden in "To Sir
GodfreyKneller" establishesthe traditionhe claims to embody: he sets
Homer and Virgilas standards,the one forhis nobility,the otherforhis
art(lines 63- 64), and usinga militarymetaphoragain, Drydenclaims he
fightsunder Shakespeare's protection:

With awe, I ask his Blessing e're I write;

With Reverence look on his Majestick Face;
Proud to be less; but of his Godlike Race.
His Soul Inspiresme, while thy Praise I write,
And I like Teucer, under Ajax Fight.
(lines 74-78)

Dryden definesthe traditionforKneller as well, making him a worthy

successorto Raphael and Titian (lines 63-64) and envisioninghim as
anotherPrometheus(lines 22-25), a prototypefora creator,a demigod.
Howeverhostilethe timesmay be, both artistsachieve a certainvictory
bybeing ofthatgrand company. Drydendescribesthewaysof theworld
in neglectingits poets: he has no patronage, and Homer too "was with
barren Lawrel Crown'd" (line 99). And yet Dryden likens himselfto
Teucer, half-brotherto the great warriorAjax, and he claims to be of
the same "Godlike Race" as Shakespeare. Furthermore,as the poem
ends, the bounding timesdissipate as Time itselfconfersits honorson
the true heroes:'3

'3On Dryden's treatment of Time and the times in this poem, see Earl Miner's
"Dryden'sEikon Basilike: To Sir GodfreyKneller," fromSeventeenth-CenturyImagery,
ed. Miner (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1971), pp. 151-67.

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388 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

More cannot be by Mortal Art exprest;

But venerable Age shall add the rest,
For Time shall with his ready Pencil stand;
Retouch your Figures, with his ripeninghand.
Mellow your Colours, and imbrownthe Teint;
Add everyGrace, which Time alone can grant:
To futureAges shall your Fame convey;
And give more Beauties; than he takes away.
(lines 174-81)

However constrainedthe artistmay appear to be in an unappreciative,

"stupid Militarystate" (line 51), howeverunrecognizedin a world that
bestowsitshonorsupon Shadwellsand Rymers,the artistcan stilldo the
great and lasting work,still exert Promethean power, still fightalong
withShakespeare; finally,art and the artistare powerfuland transcend
the limitingtimes. Dryden's view of the artistas victimof his times is
certainlypessimistic,and at the same time, his view of what the artist
ultimatelyaccomplishes is idealistic.
Similarly,"Eleonora" contains a pessimisticacceptance of neglect at
the hands of the world and an optimisticassertionof power. In the
prefatoryletterto the Earl of Abingdon, Drydenlikenshimselfto Ovid,
who "going to his Banishment, and Writingfrom on Shipbord to his
Friends, excus'd the Faults of his Poetry by his Misfortunes"(Kinsley,
2:582). Such a statementacknowledgesthe constraintsimposed by "this
bad Age" (line 368), and points out Dryden'sexclusion, and it may be
significantto note thatTeucer too was banished fromhis nativeSalamis
because his effortson behalf of his half-brother,Ajax, were misunder-
stood in his homeland. But in the same paragraph, the banished poet
claims he has "prophecy'd beyondmynatural power" (p. 582); he also
claims that in the midst of an unreceptiveworld of "Incompetent, or
CorruptJudges" (p. 584), he will "raise an Emulation in the livzng,to
Copy out the Example of the dead" (p. 583). Such an age cannot hear
him; yetDryden addressesit as ifit were listeningdespiteitselfand as if
he could "animate othersto thosevirtues"("Epistle to Danby") theyso
conspicuously lack. The world about him remains "our Earthly
Dunghil" (line 82), and yetDrydenfashionsan ideal ofvirtueeverybit as
grand and exalted as that avowed in the poem to Anne Killigrew.
Drydendepictsthe Countessof Abingdon as heaven itself(lines 57-61),
as a constellation(lines 146-53), as Virtue'simage (line 230), as a "full
Soul, in narrowlimitspent" (line 244), as a star(lines 263-65), as a saint
(lines 291, 359-60) - thisis thesame imageryand vocabularyhe used for
Anne Killigrew.By elevatingEleonora in thisway, Drydenestablishesa
patternofvirtuesas he elsewherehad establisheda traditionofpoets and
a traditionof painters. The voice dares speak in a hostile age, but it is
scarcelypowerless,foritis versethatpreservesEleonora, and thespeaker

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 389

is a self-proclaimedprophet performinga holy task:

Thy Reliques (such thyWorks of Mercy are)

Have, in this Poem, been my holy care.
As Earth thyBody keeps, thySoul the Sky,
So shall this Verse preservethyMemory.
(lines 373-76)

The implicitfaithin poetry'srelevance in these poems is consistent

withthe explicitfaithproclaimed in the Killigrewode and in "Alexan-
der's Feast." In addition, we should note that in these two poems, the
poet's victoryis placed in the future(at the Last Judgment)and in the
distantpast (the days of Alexander). However exalted the poet's influ-
ence may be, that influenceis not acknowledgedby the world at large.
At one point,forinstance,Timotheussingsof Alexander'sbirth,and in
theprocess,endowstheemperorwithdivinity(he is born fromtheunion
of Jove and the "fair Olympia" (line 30)):

The list'ningCrowd admire the loftySound,

A presentDeity, theyshout around:
A presentDeity the vaulted Roofs rebound.
With ravish'd Ears
The Monarch hears,
Assumes the God,
Affectsto nod,
And seems to shake the Spheres.
(lines 34-41)

We should note that it is not until the myth-makerhas articulatedhis

myththatthecrowdacknowledgesa "presentDeity"and thatAlexander
"Assumesthe God. "14 We should also note that both the crowd and the
emperorfail to realize that theyare being manipulated; theyperceive
thedivinityas thecrowdson theshoreperceivethevictory,withouta full
awarenessofthepowerofthepoet in establishingthatdivinityor victory.
In much the same way, Anne Killigrewexertspower in the world of
affairswithouttheworldrealizingit. She bestowscertaincharacteristics
on her King, James II:

'4Earl Miner, in Dryden's Poetry(Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1967), says that
"the governingsubject of the poem . . .is the superiorityof the artistto the man of
action" (p. 267). As some indication that a modern sensibilityhas difficultyaccepting
such forthrightand idealistic claims, see John Dawsen Carl Buck's "The Ascetic's
Banquet: The MoralityofAlexander's Feast," TSLL 17(Fall 1975):573-89; Buck admits
thepoet is powerfulbut claims, strangelyenough, thatDrydendisapprovesofthatpower
and is actually condemning both Timotheus and Cecilia.

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390 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

The Scene then chang'd, with bold Erected Look

Our Martial King the sightwith Reverence strook:
For not contentt'expresshis Outward Part,
Her hand call'd out the Image of his Heart,
His Warlike Mind, his Soul devoid of Fear,
His High-designingThoughts, were figur'dthere,
As when, by Magick, Ghosts are made appear. J
(lines 127-33)

There is littledoubt that in 1685 Dryden thoughthighlyofJames,who

came to the throneas a popular militaryhero: as Drydenin "Threnodia
Augustalis" (1685) was to proclaim, "A Warlike Prince ascends the
Regal State" (line 429).1' But the passage stressesthe artist'spower in
definingthat "Warlike" character, as Timotheus had definedAlexan-
der'sdivinity;qualities as insubstantialas ghostsare made substantialby
the artist,are "call'd out" by her shaping hand; this is similar to the
Promethean power Dryden assigned Kneller. And yet there is no hint
that the kingknowshe is subject to thismagical power. The artist,who
shapes and influences,is again a leader of leaders; and just beforeshe is
imaginedleading all nationsat the LastJudgment,Drydendescribesher
as leading people rightnow:

Mean time her Warlike Brotheron the Seas

His waving Streamersto the Winds displays,
And vows forhis Return, with vain Devotion, pays.
Ah, Generous Youth, that Wish forbear,
The Winds too soon will waft thee here!
Slack all thySailes, and fear to come,
Alas, thou know'stnot, Thou art wreck'd at home!
No more shalt thou behold thySistersFace,
Thou hast already had her last Embrace.
But look aloft, and if thou ken'st fromfar,
Among the Pleiad's a New-kindl'd Star,
If any sparkles,than the rest,more bright,
'Tis she that shines in that propitious Light.
(lines 165-77)

'"One mightnote that when Dryden addressesJamesdirectly,he defers,but as usual,

he has it both ways: "'Tis, indeed, but justice, that the most excellent and most
profitablekind of writing,should be addressed by Poets to such personswhose Charac-
tershave, forthe mostpart, been the guides and patternsof theirimitation. And Poets,
while they imitate, instruct" (dedicatory letter to The Conquest of Granada, 1672,
Works, 11:3). The firstsentence sets up James as a model foremulation ("for the most
part"), but the next sentence implies that this man of action is subject to the poet's
influence as well. And Dryden later was to dare instructJames II, as he had instructed
Charles II, on the proper exercise of kinglypower: see "Britannia Rediviva" (1688),
especially lines 339-61.

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 391

In thelast fourlines,Anne, havingbeen imagined as transformedinto a

star, like Eleonora, is acting as a navigational guide of sorts,thereby
leading her brother;to use a cliche consistentwithDryden'simage, the
poet is a guidinglight. But in the here and now, Anne's brotherhas no
idea what it is thatis guidinghim,just as Alexander has no awarenessof
being manipulated.
All these poems contain claims forthe artist'spower and relevance,
and hints that, however influential and important the poet-maker
mightbe, his significantcontributionswill remain unacknowledgedby
those attending to "the serious and more unpleasant business of the
world." If we returnto the final paragraph of the "Essay of Dramatick
Poesie," we can note anotherpiece of innuendo that furtherreinforces
the theme. I am referringto that point at which the fourmen, having
leftthe boat, go "througha crowd of French people who were merrily
dancing in the open air, and nothingconcern'd forthe noise of Guns
which had allarm'd the Town that afternoon" (Works 17:80-81).
Within the essay'sdramatic framework,thisis a plausible reference;as
H. Neville Davies remindsus, there are French in that region, forthe
Piazza to which the four disputants walk is near St. Paul's Covent
Garden where French regularlyworshipped.'6 Nonetheless, there is
somethingslightlyunexpected about these fourmen reaching an Eng-
lish shoreon the occasion of an Englishvictoryand encounteringdanc-
ing Frenchmen, especially since the French are allies of the defeated
Dutch. One suspectsthat the referenceis not determinedsolelyby the
location of the French chapel outside the Savoy and that Dryden may
have some purpose in mind forsinglingout Frenchmen at this point.
The answermightlie in what has happened in the preceding discus-
sion, forpart ofit concernsthe French. One of thesubjectshas been the
proper role of the unitiesto the practicingplaywright,unities that, as
Eugenius demonstrates,are really French and not as classical as one
mightassume. As both Eugenius and Critestalk about the unities,their
particular choices of words suggest how restrictiveand limiting the
unities can be for the dramatist. Crites, in commending the French,
praisesthembecause "theytie themselvesso strictly to theunityofplace"
(p. 19), a phrase Neander later echoes twice in the course of arguing
againstsuch ties. Eugenius refersto the "straight. . . compass" in which
the French"have bounded theirPlots and Characters"(p. 25), and also
talks about the "narrow" (p. 25) plots, the "Acts . . . writtenin a less
compass" (p. 27) thatresultfromfollowingtheunities.Indeed, Cardinal

16H. Neville Davis, "Dryden's Rahmenerzahlung: The Form of An Essay of Dramatic

Poesie," in Fair Forms: Essays in English Literaturefrom Spenser to Jane Austen, ed.
Maren-Sofie R0stvig(Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1975), p. 131.

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392 DRYDEN'S ESSA Y

Richelieu in 1636 had imposedtheunitieson Frenchdramatistsand had

charged the French Academy with the duty of seeing that the unities
were properlyobserved, so this restrictiveforce is political as well as
literary.
When Neander, in making the case forthe English,finallyaddresses
the issue, he challenges the necessityof the unities: "'Tis true, those
beauties of the French-poesie are such as will raise perfectionhigher
to giveitwhereit is not: theyare indeed
whereit is, but are not sufficient
the Beauties of a Statue, but not of a Man, because not animated with
the soul of Poesie, which is imitationof humour and passions" (p. 44).
Neander does not discardtheunities,but he does modifytheirrestrictive
force both by claiming that unities alone are not sufficientfor good
drama, and by demonstratinghow English playwrights,like Shake-
speare, and even Jonson, achieve "varietyand copiousness" (p. 46)
withoutbeing strictlytied to the unities. As Neander puts it:

I hope I have alreadyprov'din thisdiscourse,thatthoughwe are

not altogetherso punctual as theFrench, in observingthe lawes
of Comedy; yet our erroursare so few, and little, and those
thingswhereinwe excel themso considerable, that we ought of
rightto be prefer'dbeforethem. But what will Lisideius say if
theythemselvesacknowledgethattheyare too strictly tied up by
thoselawes, forbreakingwhichhe has blam'd theEnglish?I will
alledge Corneille's words, as I find them in the end of his
Discourse of the threeUnities:Il estfacile aux speculatifsd'estre
severes,&c. "'Tis easie forspeculativepersonsto judge severely;
but iftheywould produce to publickviewten or twelvepieces of
thisnature, theywould perhaps give more latitude to the Rules
then I have done, when by experience they had known how
much we are limited and constrain'dby them, and how many
beauties of the Stage theybanish'd fromit."
(p. 51)

It is now possible to disobeyRichelieu and to followthe example of the

Englishstage which, althoughat timeshappilyassistedby the unities,is
nowhere constrainedby them. Neander, with some pride, points out
that "of late yearsMoliere, the youngerCorneille, Quinault, and some
others,have been imitatingafar offthe quick turnsand graces of the
EnglishStage" (p. 45). In addition tojustifyingEnglishdrama, Neander
in a way has helped freethe French fromthe tyrannyand constraintof
the rules, forhe has enabled futureCorneillesto escape the restrictions
that Corneille himselfwas obliged to obey.
If we return to the end of the "Essay," we can perhaps see that
Dryden'sreferenceto dancing Frenchmenis but anotherinstanceof this
theme concerning the unacknowledged efficacyof the poet-makers.

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 CEDRIC D. REVERAND II 393

The Frenchmerrilydancingon shorethinktheyare celebratinga victory

broughtabout by the guns of the English navy. Little do theyrealize,
little can anybody on the shore ever realize, that it is a seemingly
irrelevantdebate in a quicksilverworld, a debate by poets who are
walkingpast the merrydance unnoticedand unacknowledged,thathas
had a real hand in liberatingthe French.'7 It is both an Englishvictory
and a French one, a victoryachieved in part by the poet-makers, a
victoryfeltin both the literaryand political spheres.
Throughout theseworksDrydenhas maintained a consistentview of
theroleofthepoet-maker,and an understandingof thatwillallow us to
see theseseveralworksand stancesas all of a piece. Perhaps thiswillalso
enable us to take some of his more exalted claims, such as those in the
Killigrewode, more seriously(the modern preferencefor understate-
ment makes such poems as "To Congreve" more accessible to us than
Pindaric odes) and not rejectsuch proclamationsas being too extrava-
gant to be believed. Such idealistic extremesare not aberrationsbut
ratherpart of a carefullyand consistentlybalanced view, forDrydenis
simultaneouslyan idealist who sees above and beyond the world of
action, politics, decisions, and a realist who understands the narrow
ways of that world. Dryden has presentedus with a vision of the role
poetryultimatelyplays in the world of affairs,and I stressthe word
"ultimately,"for the vision persistswhateverthe immediate political
circumstancesor personalsituationmay be, fromtheyearsof Drydenas
laureate to his yearsas political outcast clingingto a lost cause. It is, I
think, especially significantto appreciate the comprehensivenessof
Dryden'svision, one that can encompass attitudinalextremesof opti-
mism and pessimism,and emotional extremesof rapture and resigna-
tion.18

'7Mary Thale, in "The Framework of An Essay of Dramatic Poesy," PLL 8(Fall

1972):362-69, is one of the fewcriticswho have commented on the role of the French in
this passage, although I do not agree with her conclusion that this is "a final fillip"
wherebyDryden "showsthe culpabilityof that 'airyand gay temper' which Neander has
neutrallypredicated ofthe French" (p. 363). Elsewherein thisessay,the French are dealt
with too seriouslyto account for a mere dismissal at this point.
'81tis thiskind ofcomprehensive"doubleness," as Pechtercalls it, thatI thinkMiner is
drivingat in RestorationMode when he sees Dryden as both conservativeand progressive
(pp. 447-50), and that Achsah Guibbory,in "Dryden's Views of History,"PQ 52 (April
1973):187-204, implies in describing Dryden as combining a classical view (which is
cyclical and can be fatalistic)with a Christianview (which is Providential and can be
optimistic).

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