John Dryden

John Dryden (1631–1700) was an English poet, dramatist and critic who dominated the literary life of Restoration England and was appointed the first official Poet Laureate in 1668. He wrote heroic plays and comedies for the revived theaters, among them All for Love and Marriage à la Mode, celebrated the restored monarchy in Astraea Redux and Annus Mirabilis, and perfected political satire in Absalom and Achitophel and The Medal and literary satire in Mac Flecknoe. His conversion to Catholicism cost him his offices after 1688, and he turned to translation, producing a complete Virgil in 1697 and the Fables of 1700. His prefaces and essays founded English literary criticism.