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DRYDEN’SLIFEAGAINSTTHEHISTORICALBACKGROUND
in1688,likethesupportersofCromwellin1649,valuedhispedagogy
sufficientlytooverlookhispolitics.3
ItwasatWestminsterwhenDrydenheardtheimportantnewsof
1649:
Charleswasonatrialforhislife,withDryden’scousinGilbertPick-
eringservingasoneofthejudges;andon30Januarytothehorror
oftheRoyalistsandtheamazementofall,theKingsteppedontothe
scaffold[...]tenminuteswalkfromtheschoolwherehisScholars,
includingDryden,weresayingtheirusualprayersforhislifeand
health.4
WhileatWestminsterSchool,hedevelopedhisinterestintheEng-
lishlanguageandtheKpracticeoftranslation[...]whichwastosupport
Drydeninhisolderage.’5Hehadachancetoprovehisliterarytalent
fivemonthsaftertheexecutionofKingCharles,writingtheonlypoem
atWestminsteronthedeathofhisschoolmate,entitledUpontheDeath
oftheLordHastings,whereherevealedsomeearlyinterestinpolitical
mattersbyalludingtotheregicideof1649,callingitKtheNation’ssin’.
SamuelJohnsonreferredtotheversebydefiningitasapoemKcomposed
withgreatambitionofsuchconceitsas,notwithstandingthereforma-
tionbegunbyWallerandDenham,theexampleofCowleystillkeptin
reputation.’6Here,JohnsonregardedDryden’sfirstpoemasmetaphys-
icalinstyleand,hence,muchdifferentfromthejustinauguratedneo-
classicismthatWallerorDenhamrepresented.Nonetheless,thecritic
underlinesthegreatambitionthattheyoungpoetprovedbyhisdebut.
Theperiodbetween1649and1658isoftenlabelledbyhistorians
asthetimeofKunevenprogress’.Forthefirsttimeinhistory,England
becamearepublicand,whatismore,ithappenedbylegalregicide,
whichhadnotbeenseeninthehistoryofEurope,althoughCharles’s
grandmother,MaryStuart,hadalreadysharedasimilarfate.Cromwell,
beingnowavictor,stillhadtograpplewithpoliticalhardshipsandwars.
3
4
5
Winn,op.cit.,pp.38-39.
Ibid.,p.47.
Ibid.,p.44.
6
SamuelJohnson,LivesoftheEnglishPoets(London:J.F
.Dove,1826),p.10.
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