Lives Of The Poets, Vol. 1 (fiscle part-III) by Samuel Johnson (best beach reads TXT) 📖

For Remoteness Of Place Is

Remarked, By Racine, To Afford The Same Conveniencies To A Poet As Length

Of Time.

 

 

 

This Play Is Written In rhyme; And Has The Appearance Of Being the

Most Elaborate Of All The Dramas. The Personages Are Imperial; But The

Dialogue Is Often Domestick, And, Therefore, Susceptible Of Sentiments

Accommodated to Familiar Incidents. The Complaint Of Life Is Celebrated;

And There Are Many Other Passages That May Be Read With Pleasure.

 

 

 

This Play Is Addressed to The Earl Of Mulgrave, Afterwards Duke Of

Buckingham, Himself, If Not A Poet, Yet A Writer Of Verses, And A

Critick. In this Address Dryden Gave The First Hints Of His Intention To

Write An Epick Poem. He Mentions His Design In terms So Obscure, That He

Seems Afraid Lest His Plan Should Be Purloined, As, He Says, Happened to

Him When He Told It More Plainly In his Preface To Juvenal. "The Design,"

Says He, "You Know Is Great, The Story English, And Neither Too Near The

Present Times, Nor Too Distant From Them."

 

 

 

All For Love, Or The World Well Lost, 1678, A Tragedy, Founded upon The

Story Of Antony And Cleopatra, He Tells Us, "Is The Only Play Which

He Wrote For Himself:" The Rest Were Given To The People. It Is, By

Universal Consent, Accounted the Work In which He Has Admitted the Fewest

Improprieties Of Style Or Character; But It Has One Fault Equal To Many,

Though Rather Moral Than Critical, That, By Admitting the Romantick

Omnipotence Of Love, He Has Recommended as Laudable, And Worthy Of

Imitation, That Conduct Which, Through All Ages, The Good Have Censured

As Vitious, And The Bad Despised as Foolish.

 

 

 

Of This Play The Prologue And The Epilogue, Though Written Upon The

Common Topicks Of Malicious And Ignorant Criticism, And Without Any

Particular Relation To The Characters Or Incidents Of The Drama, Are

Deservedly Celebrated for Their Elegance And Sprightliness.

 

 

 

Limberham, Or The Kind Keeper, 1680, Is A Comedy, Which, After The Third

Night, Was Prohibited as Too Indecent For The Stage. What Gave Offence,

Was In the Printing, As The Author Says, Altered or Omitted. Dryden

Confesses That Its Indecency Was Objected to; But Langbaine, Who Yet

Seldom Favours Him, Imputes Its Expulsion To Resentment, Because It "So

Much Exposed the Keeping part Of The Town."

 

 

 

Oedipus, 1679, Is A Tragedy Formed by Dryden And Lee, In conjunction,

From The Works Of Sophocles, Seneca, And Corneille. Dryden Planned the

Scenes, And Composed the First And Third Acts.

 

 

 

Don Sebastian, 1690, Is Commonly Esteemed either The First Or Second Of

His Dramatick Performances. It Is Too Long To Be All Acted, And Has Many

Characters And Many Incidents; And Though It Is Not Without Sallies

Of Frantick Dignity, And More Noise Than Meaning, Yet, As It Makes

Approaches To The Possibilities Of Real Life, And Has Some Sentiments

Which Leave A Strong Impression, It Continued long To Attract Attention.

Amidst The Distresses Of Princes, And The Vicissitudes Of Empire, Are

Inserted several Scenes Which The Writer Intended for Comick; But Which,

I Suppose, That Age Did Not Much Commend, And This Would Not Endure.

There Are, However, Passages Of Excellence Universally Acknowledged; The

Dispute And The Reconciliation Of Dorax And Sebastian Has Always Been

Admired.

 

 

 

This Play Was First Acted in 1690, After Dryden Had For Some Years

Discontinued dramatick Poetry.

 

 

 

Amphitryon Is A Comedy Derived from Plautus And Moliere. The Dedication

Is Dated oct. 1690. This Play Seems To Have Succeeded at Its First

Appearance; And Was, I Think, Long Considered as A Very Diverting

Entertainment.

 

 

 

Cleomenes, 1692, Is A Tragedy, Only Remarkable As It Occasioned an

Incident Related in the Guardian, And Allusively Mentioned by Dryden In

His Preface. As He Came Out From The Representation, He Was Accosted thus

By Some Airy Stripling: "Had I Been Left Alone With A Young Beauty, I

Would Not Have Spent My Time Like Your Spartan." "That Sir," Said Dryden,

"Perhaps, Is True; But Give Me Leave To Tell You, That You Are No Hero."

 

 

 

King arthur, 1691, Is Another Opera. It Was The Last Work That Dryden

Performed for King charles, Who Did Not Live To See It Exhibited; And

It Does Not Seem To Have Been Ever Brought Upon The Stage[104]. In the

Dedication To The Marquis Of Halifax, There Is A Very Elegant Character

Of Charles, And A Pleasing account Of His Latter Life. When This Was

First Brought Upon The Stage, News That The Duke Of Monmouth Had Landed

Was Told In the Theatre; Upon Which The Company Departed, And Arthur Was

Exhibited no More.

 

 

 

His Last Drama Was Love Triumphant, A Tragicomedy. In his Dedication To

The Earl Of Salisbury He Mentions "The Lowness Of Fortune To Which He

Has Voluntarily Reduced himself, And Of Which He Has No Reason To Be

Ashamed."

 

 

 

This Play Appeared in 1694. It Is Said To Have Been Unsuccessful. The

Catastrophe, Proceeding merely From A Change Of Mind, Is Confessed by The

Author To Be Defective. Thus He Began And Ended his Dramatick Labours

With Ill Success.

 

 

 

From Such A Number Of Theatrical Pieces, It Will Be Supposed, By Most

Readers, That He Must Have Improved his Fortune; At Least, That Such

Diligence, With Such Abilities, Must Have Set Penury At Defiance. But

In Dryden'S Time The Drama Was Very Far From That Universal Approbation

Which It Has Now Obtained. The Playhouse Was Abhorred by The Puritans,

And Avoided by Those Who Desired the Character Of Seriousness Or Decency.

A Grave Lawyer Would Have Debased his Dignity, And A Young Trader Would

Have Impaired his Credit, By Appearing in those Mansions Of Dissolute

Licentiousness. The Profits Of The Theatre, When So Many Classes Of The

People Were Deducted from The Audience, Were Not Great; And The Poet Had,

For A Long Time, But A Single Night. The First That Had Two Nights Was

Southern; And The First That Had Three Was Howe. There Were, However, In

Those Days, Arts Of Improving a Poet'S Profit, Which Dryden Forbore To

Practise; And A Play, Therefore, Seldom Produced him More Than A Hundred

Pounds, By The Accumulated gain Of The Third Night, The Dedication, And

The Copy.

 

 

 

Almost Every Piece Had A Dedication, Written With Such Elegance And

Luxuriance Of Praise, As Neither Haughtiness Nor Avarice Could Be

Imagined able To Resist. But He Seems To Have Made Flattery Too Cheap.

That Praise Is Worth Nothing of Which The Price Is Known.

 

 

 

To Increase The Value Of His Copies, He Often Accompanied his Work With A

Preface Of Criticism; A Kind Of Learning then Almost New In the English

Language, And Which He, Who Had Considered, With Great Accuracy, The

Principles Of Writing, Was Able To Distribute Copiously As Occasions

Arose. By These Dissertations The Publick Judgment Must Have Been Much

Improved; And Swift, Who Conversed with Dryden, Relates That He Regretted

The Success Of His Own Instructions, And Found His Readers Made Suddenly

Too Skilful To Be Easily Satisfied.

 

 

 

His Prologues Had Such Reputation, That For Some Time A Play Was

Considered as Less Likely To Be Well Received, If Some Of His Verses Did

Not Introduce It. The Price Of A Prologue Was Two Guineas, Till, Being

Asked to Write One For Mr. Southern, He Demanded three: "Not," Said He,

"Young Man, Out Of Disrespect To You; But The Players Have Had My Goods

Too Cheap[105]."

 

 

 

Though He Declares, That In his Own Opinion, His Genius Was Not

Dramatick, He Had Great Confidence In his Own Fertility; For He Is Said

To Have Engaged, By Contract, To Furnish Four Plays A Year.

 

 

 

It Is Certain, That In one Year, 1678[106], He Published all For Love,

Assignation, Two Parts Of The Conquest Of Granada, Sir Martin Mar-All,

And The State Of Innocence, Six Complete Plays; With A Celerity Of

Performance, Which, Though All Langbaine'S Charges Of Plagiarism Should

Be Allowed, Shows Such Facility Of Composition, Such Readiness Of

Language, And Such Copiousness Of Sentiment, As, Since The Time Of Lopez

De Vega, Perhaps No Other Author Has Possessed.

 

 

 

He Did Not Enjoy His Reputation, However Great, Nor His Profits, However

Small, Without Molestation. He Had Criticks To Endure, And Rivals To

Oppose. The Two Most Distinguished wits Of The Nobility, The Duke Of

Buckingham And Earl Of Rochester, Declared themselves His Enemies.

 

 

 

Buckingham Characterized him, In 1671, By The Name Of Bayes, In the

Rehearsal; A Farce Which He Is Said To Have Written With The Assistance

Of Butler, The Author Of Hudibras; Martin Clifford, Of The Charter-House;

And Dr. Sprat, The Friend Of Cowley, Then His Chaplain. Dryden And His

Friends Laughed at The Length Of Time, And The Number Of Hands, Employed

Upon This Performance; In which, Though By Some Artifice Of Action It Yet

Keeps Possession Of The Stage, It Is Not Possible Now To Find Any Thing

That Might Not Have Been Written Without So Long Delay, Or A Confederacy

So Numerous.

 

 

 

To Adjust The Minute Events Of Literary History, Is Tedious And

Troublesome; It Requires, Indeed, No Great Force Of Understanding, But

Often Depends Upon Inquiries Which There Is No Opportunity Of Making, Or

Is To Be Fetched from Books And Pamphlets Not Always At Hand.

 

 

 

The Rehearsal Was Played in 1671[107], And Yet Is Represented as

Ridiculing passages In the Conquest Of Granada And Assignation, Which

Were Not Published till 1678; In marriage A-La-Mode, Published in 1673;

And In tyrannick Love, In 1677. These Contradictions Show How Rashly

Satire Is Applied[108].

 

 

 

It Is Said That This Farce Was Originally Intended against Davenant, Who,

In The First Draught, Was Characterized by The Name Of Bilboa. Davenant

Had Been A Soldier And An Adventurer.

 

 

 

There Is One Passage In the Rehearsal Still Remaining, Which Seems To

Have Related originally To Davenant. Bayes Hurts His Nose, And Comes In

With Brown Paper Applied to The Bruise; How This Affected dryden, Does

Not Appear. Davenant'S Nose Had Suffered such Diminution By Mishaps Among

The Women, That A Patch Upon That Part Evidently Denoted him.

 

 

 

It Is Said, Likewise, That Sir Robert Howard Was Once Meant. The Design

Was, Probably, To Ridicule The Reigning poet, Whoever He Might Be.

 

 

 

Much Of The Personal Satire, To Which It Might Owe Its First Reception,

Is Now Lost Or Obscured. Bayes, Probably, Imitated the Dress, And

Mimicked the Manner, Of Dryden: The Cant Words Which Are So Often In

His Mouth May Be Supposed to Have Been Dryden'S Habitual Phrases, Or

Customary Exclamations. Bayes, When He Is To Write, Is Blooded and

Purged: This, As Lamotte Relates Himself To Have Heard, Was The Real

Practice Of The Poet.

 

 

 

There Were Other Strokes In the Rehearsal By Which Malice Was Gratified:

The Debate Between Love And Honour, Which Keeps Prince Volscius In a

Single Boot, Is Said To Have Alluded to The Misconduct Of The Duke

Of Ormond, Who Lost Dublin To The Rebels, While He Was Toying with A

Mistress.

 

 

 

The Earl Of Rochester, To Suppress The Reputation Of Dryden, Took Settle

Into His Protection, And Endeavoured to Persuade The Publick That Its

Approbation Had Been To That Time Misplaced. Settle Was Awhile In high

Reputation: His Empress Of Morocco, Having first Delighted the Town, Was

Carried in triumph To Whitehall, And Played by The Ladies Of The Court.

Now Was The Poetical Meteor At The Highest; The Next Moment Began Its

Fall. Rochester Withdrew His Patronage; Seeming resolved, Says One Of His

Biographers, "To Have A Judgment Contrary To That Of The Town;" Perhaps

Being unable To Endure Any Reputation Beyond A Certain Height, Even When

He Had Himself Contributed to Raise It.

 

 

 

Neither Criticks Nor Rivals Did Dryden Much Mischief, Unless They Gained

From His Own Temper The Power Of Vexing him, Which His Frequent Bursts Of

Resentment Give Reason To Suspect. He Is Always Angry At Some Past, Or

Afraid Of Some Future Censure; But He Lessens The Smart Of His Wounds By

The Balm Of His Own Approbation, And Endeavours To Repel The Shafts Of

Criticism By Opposing a Shield Of Adamantine Confidence.

 

 

 

The Perpetual Accusation Produced against Him, Was That Of Plagiarism,

Against Which He Never Attempted any Vigorous Defence; For, Though He

Was, Perhaps, Sometimes Injuriously Censured, He Would, By Denying part

Of The Charge, Have Confessed the Rest; And, As His Adversaries Had The

Proof In their Own Hands, He, Who Knew That Wit Had Little Power Against

Facts, Wisely Left In that Perplexity Which Generality Produces A

Question Which It Was His Interest To Suppress, And Which, Unless

Provoked by Vindication, Few Were Likely To Examine.

 

 

 

Though The Life Of A Writer, From About Thirty-Five To Sixty-Three,

May Be Supposed to Have Been Sufficiently Busied by The Composition Of

Eight-And-Twenty Pieces For The Stage, Dryden Found Room In the Same

Space For Many Other Undertakings. But, How Much Soever He Wrote, He Was

At Least Once Suspected of Writing more; For, In 1679, A Paper Of Verses,

Called an Essay On Satire, Was Shown About In manuscript; By Which The

Earl Of Rochester, The Dutchess Of Portsmouth, And Others, Were So Much

Provoked, That, As Was Supposed, (For The Actors Were