To the Memory of Mr. Oldham (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Dryden
- First Published: 1684
- Type of Work: Elegy
- Genres: Poetry, Elegy
- Subjects: Art or artists, Poetry or poets, Genius, Criticism, Death or dying, Fame, Joy or sorrow, Fools or jesters, Track athletics
The Poem
John Dryden’s elegy “To the Memory of Mr. Oldham” presents a tribute in verse to the poetic achievement of John Oldham (1653-1683), whom Dryden knew as a younger contemporary. Although he produced a variety of poems and translations, Oldham gained fame through his highly topical Satyrs upon the Jesuits (1681). In twenty-five lines of heroic couplets, an unusual verse form for an elegy, Dryden laments Oldham’s premature death and assesses his literary merit.
In the first of the poem’s three sections (lines 1-10), Dryden follows established...
[The entire page is 1459 words long]
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