Annus Mirabilis by John Dryden PDF

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ESSAY John Dryden Annus Mirabilis Introduction John Dryden was an English poet born in Aldwinckle on August 9, 1631, and died in London on May 12, 1700, at the age of 68. Dryden was one of the most influential poets, playwrights, and critics of his day. He was a great versatile writer, did his studies at Cambridge University, and was an active participant in politics. He published his first dramatic work in the same year he married, 1663 (The will gallant). His career as a playwright would last until 1693, writing about thirty dramas. He was influenced by great writers such as William Shakespeare, Giovanni Boccaccio or Geoffrey Chaucer, as well as the classical authors from whom he translated his texts, such as Ovid and Horace. Among his books of poems are "Annus Mirabilis" (1667), "Absalom and Achitophel" (1681) and "The Medal" (1682). During these years he managed to earn a position as a royal historiographer at court, thanks to the fame that brought him the poem that we are going to comment on, Annus Mirabilis, written in 1666, and published the following year, and for which he was named as a poet. laureate. It is the first non-dramatic poem written by the author; he defines it as a historical poem. Despite the fact that the title of this poem translates as "the year of wonders" in reality it was totally the opposite, a tragedy, due to the plague and the great fire of London. Samuel Johnson claimed that John Dryden used this title "annus mirabilis" as it was a wonder that events did not get worse. This poem is made up of more than 1200 verses that are divided into 304 quatrains, each line has ten syllables and its rhyme scheme is “ABAB”, also known as a decasyllabic quatrain. Body The year the poem was written was a turning point in London at the time, as the Great Fire of London spanned 40 miles, destroying more than 15,000 homes, shops and religious establishments. Everything was easily destroyed since most of those buildings or houses (mostly of poor people) were made of wood and there was no fire team in the city, which caused massive destruction. In that year, it was believed that God was sending punishment to the region with this fire and the Black Death, but Dryden saw it as an opportunity to purify and cleanse the city, in order to turn London into a great metropolis. In the poem he affirms that God is sending them an opportunity and not a punishment, after the disaster it was necessary to turn the city into a world leading metropolis and great for the future. “I see a city of more precious mold: Rich as the town which gives the Indies name, With silver paved, and all divine with gold. Already labouring with a mighty fate, She shakes the rubbish from her mounting brow, And seems to have renewed her charter’s date, Which Heaven will to the death of time allow. More great than human now, and more august,

Now deified she form her fires does rise” (Dryden, Annus mirabilis, 1667)

Dryden is hopeful despite all the destruction the fire has caused and that is reflected in his lines. As we've mentioned before, he sees it as an opportunity for London to be reborn. London will be the representative of the country in the future and that is how the author saw it, neither atrocious destruction nor death could bring down the city. The poem begins by pointing out the conflict between the Dutch and the English, until France intervened in favor of Great Britain and they won the victory, but even so for years the two countries were in conflict because Holland did not want to give England the position of naval power, even if they had signed "peace". “And this may prove our second punic war: What peace can be, where both to one pretend? (Buy they more diligent, and we more strong) Or if a peace, it soon must have an end; For they would grow too powerful, were itlong. Behold two nations, then, engaged so far That each seven years the fit must shake each fand” (Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, 1667).

Here, the author says that any peace signed by the Dutch and the English would be false as they both acquired power from different places and then faced both. Due to the deaths that this war generated, the author affirms that London is in mourning, and then the plague appears and the population decreases without the help of its rulers. After detailing the plague, Dryden focuses on the Great Fire, dedicating much of the poem to its destructiveness due to everything he has burned in its path. In the poem the King of Holland, William III, is personified, he is the one who indoctrinates his army so that the English continue to be threatened to continue being the naval power during the Anglo-Dutch conflict. The King of England, Carlos II, who reigned in the year of the events, 1666, also appears. He is the one who builds the domain of the navy as a world power since he wants his empire to subjugate. But he was very proud and was always in dilemma with neighboring countries, which made him gain a bad name with his people. When the plague hits the city his power is practically useless but he regains it in part when he signs a treaty that saves the city from maximum destruction in the Great Fire. The French king, Louis XIV, appears, to whom the author refers when he names his country, France. He collaborated with England in the war against the Dutch, from which they were victorious. This one was very unstable as an ally. God is personified by Christianity being very present in the culture of the time, the creation of the universe and life is attributed to him, so that everything can be handled as he wishes without the population questioning or judging. God's decisions are always considered fair even if they have no argument, and he receives a lot of praise. He is present several times in the poem. The author personifies death, without being something to be afraid of but familiar and close. In 1666, it was so terrible and so many people died that the population normalized it.

Let’s talk about symbolism, allegories and motifs inside the piece. In the poem, the author uses the term “breast” to symbolize the heart of a person, the feelings and emotions that a person has. We find a symbol of power in the mention of the ships, the author focuses on the number of ships that each ruler has and implies that the more ships they have, the more power they possess. So the boats become a symbol of power and wealth of a country. Another symbol we find are the “fruits”. After mentioning the battle between the British and the Dutch, Dryden mentions that the fruits of the country were attacked. The term "fruits" is also used as a symbol of the wealth that a country possesses. In this case it is material and earthly wealth. Conclusion Annus mirabilis is a poem that reflects a difficult historical moment for England. Dryden gives a tone of joy and hope to the disaster believing that the great fire and the black plague is not a punishment from God as the people say, but an opportunity to resurface as a great city. Dryden places us in his time explaining the conflict between the English and the Dutch and its causes, from which we conclude that this was a complicated time in the roles of power, since the rulers of a country felt the need to constantly demonstrate their power to his rival, and vice versa. In those years the Christian religion was very present in the population, so everything that happened was attributed to God as an act of kindness even though there was no argument to justify it. The author describes the fire coldly and with similes, as if he were a mere spectator of a movie, and from this he draws numerous reflections. In conclusion, John Dryden makes us live the reality of the time with this poem, he pushes us to imagine each historical scene the way he and the people have lived it. It makes us delve into the thought of the English population of 1667, reliving one of the worst moments for the country.

Bibliography

Cronin, R. (2014). Annus mirabilis. ST JOHN’S COLLEGE. https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/john-dryden-annus-mirabilis-1666

Haven Blake, D. (1992). The politics of commercial language in dryden’s annus mirabilis. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23113551

Sexton, T. (2018). Annus mirabilis john dryden. Gradesaver. https://www.gradesaver.com/annus-mirabilis

Sutherland, J. R. (2012). Dryden’s biography. Britannica. https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/d/dryden.htm...