TO THE MEMORY OF MR. OLDHAM

by: John Dryden

      AREWELL, too little, and too lately known,
      Whom I began to think and call my own:
      For sure our souls were near allied, and thine
      Cast in the same poetic mold with mine.
      One common note on either lyre did strike,
      And knaves and fools we both abhorr'd alike.
      To the same goal did both our studies drive;
      The last set out the soonest did arrive.
      Thus Nisus fell upon the slippery place,
      While his young friend perform'd and won the race.
      O early ripe! to thy abundant store
      What could advancing age have added more?
      It might (what nature never gives the young)
      Have taught the numbers of thy native tongue.
      But satire needs not those, and wit will shine
      Thro' the harsh cadence of a rugged line:
      A noble error, and but seldom made,
      When poets are by too much force betray'd.
      Thy generous fruits, tho' gather'd ere their prime,
      Still shew'd a quickness; and maturing time
      But mellows what we write to the dull sweets of rhyme.
      Once more, hail and farewell; farewell, thou young,
      But ah too short, Marcellus of our tongue;
      Thy brows with ivy, and with laurels bound;
      but fate and gloomy night encompass thee around.

MORE POEMS BY JOHN DRYDEN

RELATED WEBSITES

  • John Dryden - A biography of the Restoration dramatist.
  • John Dryden (1631-1700) - A biography of the Restoration dramatist.
  • Restoration Drama - An overview of Restoration theatre; includes information on the appearance of women on the English stage, the persistance of Elizabethan plays, parody of heroic drama, the nature of Restoration comedy, women playwrights, and Collier's attack on the stage.
  • Purchase books by John Dryden

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