The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by John Dryden
Chapter 1 TO THE MEMORY OF MR OLDHAM.[33]
Farewell, too little, and too lately known,
Whom I began to think, and call my own:
For sure our souls were near allied, and thine
Cast in the same poetic mould with mine!
One common note on either lyre did strike,
And knaves and fools we both abhorr'd alike.
To the same goal did both our studies drive;
The last set out, the soonest did arrive.
Thus Nisus fell upon the slippery place,
Whilst his young friend performed, and won the race. 10
O early ripe! to thy abundant store
What could advancing age have added more?
It might (what nature never gives the young)
Have taught the smoothness of thy native tongue.
But satire needs not those, and wit will shine
Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line.
A noble error, and but seldom made,
When poets are by too much force betray'd.
Thy generous fruits, though gather'd ere their prime,
Still show'd a quickness; and maturing time 20
But mellows what we write, to the dull sweets of rhyme.
Once more, hail! and farewell, farewell, thou young,
But, ah! too short, Marcellus of our tongue!
Thy brows with ivy, and with laurels bound;
But fate and gloomy night encompass thee around.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 33: 'Mr Oldham:' John Oldham, the satirist, died of the small-pox in his 30th year, 1683.]
* * * * *
Chapter 1 TO THE MEMORY OF MR OLDHAM.[33]
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Chapter 2 No.2
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Chapter 3 No.3
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Chapter 4 No.4
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Chapter 5 No.5
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Chapter 6 No.6
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Chapter 7 No.7
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Chapter 8 No.8
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Chapter 9 No.9
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Chapter 10 No.10
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Chapter 11 No.11
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Chapter 12 UPON THE DEATH OF
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Chapter 13 ELEONORA
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Chapter 14 ON THE DEATH OF AMYNTAS.
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Chapter 15 ON THE DEATH OF A VERY YOUNG GENTLEMAN.
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Chapter 16 UPON YOUNG MR ROGERS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
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Chapter 17 ON THE DEATH OF MR PURCELL.
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Chapter 18 EPITAPH ON THE LADY WHITMORE.
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Chapter 19 EPITAPH ON SIR PALMES FAIRBONE'S TOMB IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
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Chapter 20 UNDER MR MILTON'S PICTURE, BEFORE HIS PARADISE LOST.[38]
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Chapter 21 ON THE MONUMENT OF A FAIR MAIDEN LADY[39], WHO DIED AT BATH, AND IS THERE INTERRED.
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Chapter 22 EPITAPH ON MRS MARGARET PASTON, OF BURNINGHAM IN NORFOLK.
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Chapter 23 THE FAIR STRANGER.[41]
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Chapter 24 ON THE YOUNG STATESMEN.
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Chapter 25 A SONG FOR ST CECILIA'S DAY,[43]1687.
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Chapter 26 THE TEARS OF AMYNTA, FOR THE DEATH OF DAMON.
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Chapter 27 THE LADY'S SONG.[44]
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Chapter 28 A SONG.
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Chapter 29 A SONG. No.29
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Chapter 30 RONDELAY.
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Chapter 31 A SONG. No.31
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Chapter 32 A SONG TO A FAIR YOUNG LADY, GOING OUT OF TOWN IN THE SPRING.
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Chapter 33 No.33
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Chapter 34 No.34
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Chapter 35 SONG IN THE MAIDEN QUEEN.
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Chapter 36 No.36
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Chapter 37 No.37
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Chapter 38 SONG OF THE SEA-FIGHT, IN AMBOYNA.
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Chapter 39 INCANTATION IN OEDIPUS.
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Chapter 40 No.40
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