[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-135954-en":3,"doc-seo-135954-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},135954,8796095461610,"Oliver","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c",2,"Literature","Discourses on Satire and Epic Poetry - Introduction","Discourses on Satire and Epic Poetry presents John Dryden’s later-life critical thoughts on how satire develops and how epic poetry should be understood. The introduction frames these discourses in the years after Dryden’s 1667 Essay of Dramatic Poesie, recalling contemporary debate over blank verse in drama and the impact of Milton’s Paradise Lost. It also highlights Dryden’s engagement with French critical influence, balancing strength and weakness while showing his independent critical judgment.","Discourses on Satire and Epic Poetry  \nJohn Dryden  \nDiscourses on Satire and Epic Poetry  \nTable of Contents  \nDiscourses on Satire and Epic Poetry......................................................................................................................1  \nJohn Dryden................................................................................................................................................... 1  \nINTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 1  \nA DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGINAL AND PROGRESS OF SATIRE:.....................................................2  \nA DISCOURSE ON EPIC POETRY..........................................................................................................39  \nPOSTSCRIPT..............................................................................................................................................72  \nDiscourses on Satire and Epic Poetry  \nJohn Dryden  \nThis page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online.  \n[http://www.blackmask.com](http://www.blackmask.com)  \n• INTRODUCTION.  \n• A DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGINAL AND PROGRESS OF SATIRE:  \n• A DISCOURSE ON EPIC POETRY.  \n• POSTSCRIPT.  \nThis etext was prepared by David Price, email [ccx074@coventry.ac.uk](ccx074@coventry.ac.uk)[ ](ccx074@coventry.ac.uk)[from the 1888 Cassell Company edition.](from the 1888 Cassell Company edition.)  \nINTRODUCTION.  \nDryden's discourses upon Satire and Epic Poetry belong to the latter years of his life, and represent maturer thought than is to be found in his \"Essay of Dramatic Poesie.\" That essay, published in 1667, draws its chief interest from the time when it was written. A Dutch fleet was at the mouth of the Thames. Dryden represents himself taking a boat down the river with three friends, one of them his brother−in−law Sir Robert Howard, another Sir Charles Sedley, and another Charles Sackville Lord Buckhurst to whom, as Earl of Dorset, the\"Discourse of Satire\" is inscribed. They go down the river to hear the guns at sea, and judge by the sound whether the Dutch fleet be advancing or retreating. On the way they talk of the plague of Odes that will follow an English victory; their talk of verse proceeds to plays, with particular attention to a question that had been specially argued before the public between Dryden and his brother−in−law Sir Robert Howard. The question touched the use of blank verse in the drama. Dryden had decided against it as a worthless measure, and the chief feature of the Essay, which was written in dialogue, was its support of Dryden's argument. But in that year (1667) \"Paradise Lost\" was published, and Milton's blank verse was the death of Dryden's theories. After a few years Dryden recanted his error. The \"Essay of Dramatic Poesie\" is interesting as a setting forth in 1667 of mistaken critical opinions which were at that time in the ascendant, but had not very long to live. Dryden always wrote good masculine prose, and all his critical essays are good reading as pieces of English. His \"Essay of Dramatic Poesie\" is good reading as illustrative of the weakness of our literature in the days of the influence of France after the Restoration. The essays on Satire and on Epic Poetry represent also the influence of the French critical school, but represent it in a larger way, with indications ofits strength as well as ofits weakness. They represent also Dryden himself with ariper mind covering a larger field of thought, and showing abundantly the strength and independence of his own critical judgment, while he cites familiarly and frequently the critics, little remembered and less cared for now, who then passed for the arbiters of taste.  \nIf English literature were really taught in schools, and the eldest boys had received training that brought them in their last school− year to a knowledge of the changes of intellectual fashion that set their outward mark upon ","cbCaihHlqfC6X1aP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihHlqfC6X1aP","pdf",215595,3,1,76,"English","en",105,"# INTRODUCTION\n## A DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGINAL AND PROGRESS OF SATIRE:\n## A DISCOURSE ON EPIC POETRY\n## POSTSCRIPT","[{\"question\":\"When are Dryden’s discourses on satire and epic poetry presented?\",\"answer\":\"They are introduced as works from the latter years of Dryden’s life, reflecting more mature thought than his earlier Essay of Dramatic Poesie.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the introduction connect these discourses to the debate on blank verse?\",\"answer\":\"It recalls Dryden’s earlier position against blank verse in drama and explains how Milton’s Paradise Lost later undermined those theories, after which Dryden recanted.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does French criticism play according to the introduction?\",\"answer\":\"The essays on satire and epic poetry are described as showing the influence of the French critical school, illustrating both its strengths and its weaknesses.\"}]","Discourses on Satire and Epic Poetry - Introduction | PDF",1787333227,117,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":29},"discourses-on-satire-and-epic-poetry-introduction","",{"@graph":37,"@context":85},[38,53,68],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,50],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/discourses-on-satire-and-epic-poetry-introduction/135954/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":42,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-02","2026-08-21",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"When are Dryden’s discourses on satire and epic poetry presented?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"They are introduced as works from the latter years of Dryden’s life, reflecting more mature thought than his earlier Essay of Dramatic Poesie.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How does the introduction connect these discourses to the debate on blank verse?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It recalls Dryden’s earlier position against blank verse in drama and explains how Milton’s Paradise Lost later undermined those theories, after which Dryden recanted.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What role does French criticism play according to the introduction?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The essays on satire and epic poetry are described as showing the influence of the French critical school, illustrating both its strengths and its weaknesses.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,100,104,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]