Essays of John Dryden. Selected and Edited by W. P. Ker. Volume 1

John Dryden successively expressed loyalty to Cromwell and Charles II, and to first the Anglican and then the Catholic Church. He was, however, ardently loyal to James II - a loyalty which cost him the title of Poet Laureate. Dryden is considered a master of English literature of the late seventeenth century; in addition to such poems as The Hind and the Panther and The Medal, he produced plays, including All for Love, several critical essays, and translations of such classical authors as Ovid, Lucretius, and Homer.