John Dryden
John Dryden
John Drydenwas an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668...
bless malicious man office proud seldom slave
Fortune, that with malicious joy, Does man her slave oppress, Proud of her office to destroy, Is seldom pleas'd to bless
art vices slave
If thou dost still retain the same ill habits, the same follies, too, still thou art bound to vice, and still a slave.
riches slave graves
Riches cannot rescue from the grave, which claims alike the monarch and the slave.
slave
Either be wholly slaves or wholly free.
art proud slave
To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free, These are imperial arts.
chose discourse nearest rugged verse
And this unpolished rugged verse I chose / As fittest for discourse and nearest prose.
though warm
And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm
poor ten thousand torture word
And torture one poor word ten thousand ways.
child thus
And thus the child imposes on the man.
image scattered wide
And, wide as his command, / Scattered his Maker's image through the land.
age genius includes particular studies universal
Every age has a kind of universal genius, which includes those that live in it to some particular studies
glorious sons treason
During his office, treason was no crime. / The sons of Belial had a glorious time.
bless dying gave hand
Dying bless the hand that gave the blow.
below dive errors pearls search surface
Errors like straws upon the surface flow: Who would search for pearls must dive below