The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 2 / With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes

The volume gathers the poet's poems with a biographical notice, a critical dissertation, and explanatory notes. The critic considers how to judge earlier writers by the standards of their age and religion, allowing some coarseness while arguing that the poet at times chose to indulge rather than merely reflect contemporary vices. The appraisal emphasizes remarkable ease, elastic vigour, fluent movement, and a clear argumentative intellect; it praises command of heroic rhyme and versatility across lyric, narrative, and dramatic forms, while noting that imaginative elevation seldom reaches the transcendent heights of epic predecessors. Selected works and commentary illustrate these observations.