“When I consider life, 't is all a cheat.Yet fool'd with hope, men favour the deceit;Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay.To-morrow 's falser than the former day;Lies worse, and while it says we shall be blestWith some new joys, cuts off what we possest.Strange cozenage! none would live past years again,Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain;And from the dregs of life think to receiveWhat the first sprightly running could not give.”

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.