About this book
Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry by John Dryden offers a lucid, persuasive map of poetic practice from one of the Restoration’s leading critics and poets. Dryden sets out what makes satire sting and what gives the epic its moral and imaginative power, arguing from classical models, contemporary debates, and his own long experience as a man of letters.
Written in his later years, these two linked discourses reflect Dryden’s mature thinking about verse, tone, and the critic’s responsibilities. He engages with the literary controversies of 17th-century England—responses to French critical norms, the influence of Milton’s blank verse, and public disputes with contemporaries—while illustrating how form, diction, and ethical aim shape the effectiveness of satire and epic. The prose is energetic and didactic, full of clear examples and memorable maxims about poetic excellence.
Ideal for readers and listeners of literary criticism, poetry, and Restoration literature, this audiobook illuminates the craft behind some of English literature’s most enduring genres. Listen for practical guidance on poetic form, lively historical context, and Dryden’s unmistakable voice as critic, satirist, and teacher of taste.
