John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

Jerome Donnelly (University of Central Florida)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1681

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

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Absalom and Achitophel

is generally regarded as the greatest political poem in the English language. Its heroic poetry fuses 1031 lines of allegory with drama, portraiture, and oratory into a satire on a political struggle taking place during its composition. The poem appeared anonymously in 1681 at the height of one of England’s most explosive political moments, the Exclusion Crisis, but readers quickly identified its brilliant heroic couplets as those of the nation’s Poet Laureate, John Dryden. Enlisting scripture’s account of David and Absalom from II Samuel 15-18, Dryden defends the king and the lawful succession against his opponents who want to alter the succession and install a monarch who will be more pliable to financial, mercantile and commercial interests.

The poem is

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2321 words

Citation: Donnelly, Jerome. "Absalom and Achitophel". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6866, accessed 22 November 2024.]

John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

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