''To the Memory of Mr. Oldham'' (1684) is an elegy written by

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

(1631–1700), commemorating the death of the poet

John Oldham John Oldham may refer to: *John Oldham (colonist) (1592–1636), early Puritan settler in Massachusetts *John Oldham (poet) (1653–1684), English poet * John Oldham (psychiatrist), American psychiatrist *John Oldham (engineer) (1779–1840), Iris ...

Poem

Summary

"In this elegy,

laments the death of

(1653–1683), the young poet whose ''Satires upon the Jesuits'' (1681), which Dryden admired, were written in 1679, before Dryden's major satires appeared (see line 8)." Dryden laments that he has made Oldham's acquaintance much too late and that Oldham died much too young. Their poetry and their thinking (i.e. their souls) were very similar ("For sure our souls were near allied, and thine / Cast in the same poetic mold with mine."). They both disliked "knaves and fools" which are " jects of satire." They both had the same goals. Oldham is compared to Nisus, who "on the point of winning a footrace, slipped in a pool of blood" in

Vergil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

''. Dryden then asks how Oldham's "to thy abundant store / What could advancing age have added more?" and is sure that his verse could have been perfected, but this would not have been required as "satire needs not those erfect metrics and wit will shine / Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line." Here, "Dryden repeats the Renaissance idea that the satirist should avoid smoothness and affect rough meters ��" Moreover, Dryden points out that this would be "A noble error, and but seldom made, / When poets are by too much force betrayed." As Oldham was still young his "generous fruit ��/ Still showed a quickness," but Dryden finds comfort in the fact that "maturing time / But mellows what we write to the dull sweets of rhyme." The poem is concluded with an echo of "the famous words that conclude

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

's elegy to his brother: 'Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale' (And forever, brother, hail and farewell!)." Marcellus, who is mentioned in line 23, is " e nephew of Augustus, adopted by him as his successor. After winning military fame as a youth, arcellusdied at the age of twenty".Dryden, John. "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham." 1684. ''The Norton Anthology of English Literature.'' Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. Vol. 1. 8th ed. New York, London: Norton, 2006. 2117. (n. 7).

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Poem

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