These first two volumes in a four-volume edition of Dryden's poems are the result of a complete reappraisal of the canon, text and context of his work. The text has been prepared from a fresh examination of the early printed editions, and takes account of the large number of manuscript copies which survive. Two recently discovered poems are included here for the first time. Headnotes to each poem provide details of the poem's date, publication history, sources and contemporary reception. Detailed explanations are given of the controversies addressed in his political poems, and particular attention is paid to Dryden's translations from classical writers including Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Lucretius. Volume I covers the poems of Dryden from 1649 to 1681.

This is the final volume in The Works of John Dryden and the last volume of poetry written by Dryden before he died in 1700.

Reproduction of the original.

This authoritative edition was originally published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Dryden's poetry and prose - all the major poems in full, literary criticism, and translations - to give theessence of his work and thinking.John Dryden (1631-1700) was the leading writer of his day and a major cultural spokesman following the restoration of Charles II in 1660. His work includes political poems, satire, religious apologias, translations, critical essays and plays. This anthology includes all the major poems such asMacFlecknoe and Absalom and Achitophel as well as Dryden's classical translations; his versions of Homer, Horace, and Ovid are reproduced in full. There are also substantial selections from Dryden's Virgil, Juvenal, and other classical writers. Fables, Ancient and Modern, taken from Chaucer, Ovid,Boccaccio, and Homer, his last and possibly greatest work, also appears in full.