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Disclaimer!. I feel that it is important to mention two things before I begin. When I give a power point presentation, I have a habit of speaking very quickly. If this becomes a problem, please stop me.
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Disclaimer! • I feel that it is important to mention two things before I begin. • When I give a power point presentation, I have a habit of speaking very quickly. If this becomes a problem, please stop me. • I have added my own brand of humor to this presentation. If this is an issue, please let me know now and I will edit what I say.
John Dryden By Brett Tannenbaum
Life • Born August 9th, 1631 in Northamptonshire, England. • Eldest of 14 children. • On December 3rd, 1663, Dryden married the sister of Sir Robert Howard. • His new wife, Lady Elizabeth, would bear him three sons and outlive him. • He published his first important poem, Heroique Stanzas, a eulogy on Cromwell’s death. • Became the first Poet Laureate (Official Government Poet) in 1668. • He died in 1700 and was buried at Westminster Abbey
Influences • In 1644, he was sent Westminster, a humanistic grammar school. • In 1650, he went to Trinity College. • Entering London during The Protectorate, Dryden worked with Cromwell’s Secretary of State, John Thurloe. • In 1658, at Cromwell’s Funeral, he met with Puritan poets John Milton and Andrew Marvell. • He would later go on to establish the Heroic Couplet (more on this later). • In 1663, after the Puritan ban on theater was lifted, Dryden began writing plays. • In 1688, after the death of King James, Dryden’s refusal to take the oaths of allegiance left him out of favor at court.
List of works • Hidden Flame (Poem) • Mac Flecknoe (Poem) • One Happy Moment (Poem) • A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, November 22, 1687 (Poem) • Song from Amphitryon (Poem) • Song to a Fair Young Lady, going out of the Town in the Spring (Poem) • To the Memory of Mr. Oldham (Poem) • The Wild Gallant (Play) (1663) • Marriage a la Mode (Play) (1672) • Aureng-zebe (Play) (1675) • All for Love (Play) (1678)
Poetry Style • Heavily influenced by Alexander Pope • Not any one style • Often factual • Used formal poetic structures such as Heroic Couplet • Believed in expressing his thoughts in as precise and concentrated way as possible
What are Heroic Couplets? • A typical couplet line is ten syllables long, with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables. The pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one is called iambic; because there are normally five stresses in each line, the meter is called pentameter. Each couplet--that is, each set of two lines--is "sealed" by an end-rhyme, with the sound repetition usually involving only the final stressed syllable. The iambic pentameter couplet came to be called "heroic" because by the middle of the seventeenth century it was regarded as the proper form for dealing with "heroic" subjects--deeds of high accomplishment and matters of public interest and admiration--"proper" because it appeared to fit fairly unobtrusively the prose rhythms of the English language (long considered to be basically iambic) and because the five-stress line seemed most often to provide dignity and distance without intruding too much formality or aloofness.
In English this means… • Typically each line is ten syllables long. • Every two lines rhyme in the last syllable. • Rhyme Scheme AABB. • This couplet came to be called "heroic" because in the middle of the seventeenth century it was regarded as the proper form for dealing with "heroic" subjects. • Subjects were deeds of high accomplishment and matters of public interest and admiration.
Poem (Hidden Flame) I feed a flame within, which so torments me That it both pains my heart, and yet contains me: 'Tis such a pleasing smart, and I so love it, That I had rather die than once remove it. Yet he, for whom I grieve, shall never know it; My tongue does not betray, nor my eyes show it. Not a sigh, nor a tear, my pain discloses, But they fall silently, like dew on roses. Thus, to prevent my Love from being cruel, My heart's the sacrifice, as 'tis the fuel; And while I suffer this to give him quiet, My faith rewards my love, though he deny it. On his eyes will I gaze, and there delight me; While I conceal my love no frown can fright me. To be more happy I dare not aspire, Nor can I fall more low, mounting no higher.
Why I chose This Poem • The title was an important factor as to why I chose this poem. • I also liked the word choice and the idea of a hidden romance.
Discussion of the Poem • What do you think about the comparison between flame and romance? • What is the flame that the speaker mentions in line one? • Questions?