“Welcome, thou kind deceiver!Thou best of thieves: who, with an easy key,Dost open life, and, unperceived by us,Even steal us from ourselves.”

English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright of the Restoration era. Born in 1631 and dying in 1700, he became England’s first Poet Laureate in 1668 and came to stand at the center of literary life in his time. Dryden wrote across several forms, including poetry, criticism, translation, and drama. His influence was so strong that literary circles later referred to the period as the Age of Dryden. Sir Walter Scott also called him “Glorious John,” a sign of the esteem in which he was held.