He was educated at Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he received his degree of M.A. He removed to London in
1657, and wrote many plays, and on the death of Sir William Davenport he
was made poet laureate. On the accession of James II. Dryden became a Roman
Catholic and endeavoured to defend his new faith at the expense of the old
one, in a poem entitled The Hind and the Panther. At the Revolution he lost
his post, and in 1697 his translation of _Virgil_ appeared, which, of
itself alone is sufficient to immortalize his name. His ode, _Alexander's
Feast_, is esteemed by some critics as the finest in the English
language. He died May 1st, 1700.
GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, one of the most distinguished ornaments of English
literature, born at Pallas, Ireland, in 1728. He studied at Trinity
College, Dublin and afterward at Edinburgh. He traveled over Europe, on
foot, and returned to England in 1756, and settled in London. It was not
until 1764 that he emerged from obscurity by the publication of his poem
entitled _The Traveller_.
Pages:
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514