John Dryden tans, under the characters of the fanatical Justice Hudibras and his clerk Ralph. Pictured as knight errant and squire they pass through many ridiculous adventures. The poem is long and the reader tires of the strained situations and continuous satire, but it was very popular when printed and Charles and his friends were incessantly quoting its witty lines. Samuel Pepys, one of the few upright officials, has left in his Diary a gossipy and life-like account of the nine years following the accession of Charles II. The curiosity and persistence of Pepys made him an apt chronicler and his is the most accurate picture we have of those strange days. It was an age of scientific inquiry, and keen intellects struggled with great problems. John Locke made his great contribution to human thought in the Essay on the Human Understanding and Sir Isaac Newton completed his marvelous discoveries in physical science. John John Dryden is the representative Dryden writer of the age. In literary criticism which is the chief subject of his prose, he furnished a model free from the long, inverted, and involved sentences which had characterized the earlier writers. His political satires are without equal and some of his lyrics are unsurpassed. He was the first of the real literary artists, and achieved renown in nearly every department in which he made an attempt. On page 205 of Part Eight will be found Alexander's Feast, and a sketch of Dryden's life is given on page 266 of the same Part. It was the habit of the literary men then and for many years thereafter to meet at coffee-houses and exchange their views on all subjects. Conversation became an art; and at Will's Coffeehouse Dryden presided over as gay an assemblage of wits as ever in Ben Jonson's time met at the Mermaid Tavern, of which Beaumont said, "What things 'have we seen Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been So nimble, and so full of subtile flame, As if that every one from whence they came The Age of the Restoration saw an abrupt decline in the drama; in poetry it was marked by a falling away from natural standards and an adherence to formalism, but in prose it made a decided advance toward types of modern excellence. Studies 1. What were the reasons for the influence French culture had upon English literature? 2. Study your maps again and see how near together England and France really are. Study your histories and see what the governmental relations between France and England had been. 3. Why should this be called the Age of the Restoration ? If Milton and Bunyan wrote their greatest works after Charles II became king why should not they be classified with the writers of the Restoration? How many years did Milton live after Charles was restored? How many Bunyan live? Why was Bunyan imprisoned? 4. Who was the greatest poet of the Restoration? What is his greatest poem? Learn ten lines from it. did 5. What do you think brought about the prominence of conversation in this age ? When and from what place was coffee introduced into England? What luxuries then but recently known tended to bring about sociability? |