John Henry Dryden Poems on God (14 Poems)

Cymon And Iphigenia. From Boccace (John Henry Dryden Poems)

Old as I am, for lady’s love unfit,The power of beauty I remember yet,Which once inflamed my soul, and still inspires my wit.If love be folly, the severe divine;Has felt that folly, though he censures mine;Pollutes the pleasures of a … Continue reading →

The Hind And The Panther, A Poem In Three Parts : Part I. (John Henry Dryden Poems)

A milk-white Hind, immortal and unchanged,Fed on the lawns, and in the forest ranged;Without unspotted, innocent within,She feared no danger, for she knew no sin.Yet had she oft been chased with horns and hounds,And Scythian shafts; and many winged woundsAimed … Continue reading →

The Wife Of Bath Her Tale (John Henry Dryden Poems)

In days of old, when Arthur filled the throne,Whose acts and fame to foreign lands were blown,The king of elves, and little fairy queen,Gambolled on heaths, and danced on every green;And where the jolly troop had led the round,The grass … Continue reading →

Eleonora : A Panegyrical (John Henry Dryden Poems)

Dedicated to the Memory of the Late Countess of Abingdon. As when some great and gracious monarch dies,Soft whispers first and mournful riseAmong the sad attendants; then the soundSoon gathers voice and spreads the news around,Through town and country, till … Continue reading →

Britannia Rediviva: A Poem on the Birth of the Prince (John Henry Dryden Poems)

Our vows are heard betimes, and heaven takes careTo grant, before we can conclude the prayer;Preventing angels met it half the way,And sent us back to praise, who came to pray.Just on the day, when the high-mounted sunDid farthest in … Continue reading →

ASTR (John Henry Dryden Poems)

Now with a general peace the world was blest,While ours, a world divided from the rest,A dreadful quiet felt, and worser farThan arms, a sullen interval of war.Thus when black clouds draw down the lab’ring skies,Ere yet abroad the winged … Continue reading →

To the Lord Chancellor Hyde. Presented on New-Year’s Day, 1662 (John Henry Dryden Poems)

My Lord,While flattering crowds officiously appearTo give themselves, not you, an happy year,And by the greatness of their presents proveHow much they hope, but not how well they love,-The muses, who your early courtship boast,Though now your flames are with … Continue reading →

The Character Of A Good Parson. Imitated From Chaucer, And Enlarged (John Henry Dryden Poems)

A parish-priest was of the pilgrim-train;An awful, reverend, and religious man.His eyes diffused a venerable grace,And charity itself was in his face.Rich was his soul, though his attire was poor,(As God had clothed his own ambassador);For such, on earth, his … Continue reading →

A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day (John Henry Dryden Poems)

FROM harmony, from heavenly harmony,This universal frame began:When nature underneath a heapOf jarring atoms lay,And could not heave her head,The tuneful voice was heard from high,‘Arise, ye more than dead!’Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry,In order to their … Continue reading →

Satire On The Dutch (John Henry Dryden Poems)

As needy gallants, in the scrivener’s hands,Court the rich knaves that gripe their mortgaged lands;The first fat buck of all the season’s sent,And keeper takes no fee in compliment;The dotage of some Englishmen is such,To fawn on those who ruin … Continue reading →