The Faith Of John Dryden

John Dryden's celebrated conversion to Roman Catholicism is revealed in this provocative study as the culmination of a lifelong search that began with his youth in an actively Puritan family. Atkin's familiarity with the religious thought of the times allows him to range widely among Dryden's contemporaries and predecessors and to bring a fresh perspective to those key poems in Dryden's religious development: Religio Laici and The Hind and the Panther. Through a sensitive reappraisal of all Dryden's texts -- including those less widely known -- Atkins shows that Dryden had a lifelong antipathy for all "priests" of whatever sect, whether pagan or Christian; by concentrating on the theme of Dryden's opposition to the clergy and his efforts toward articulating a faith for the layman, Atkins provides an important new way of tracing and evaluating the changes in Dryden's religious position and, with this perspective, offers a new interpretation of Dryden's conversion.

John Dryden's celebrated conversion to Roman Catholicism is revealed in this provocative study as the culmination of a lifelong search that began with his youth in an actively Puritan family. Atkin's familiarity with the religious thought of the times allows him to range widely among Dryden's contemporaries and predecessors and to bring a fresh perspective to those key poems in Dryden's religious development: Religio Laici and The Hind and the Panther. Through a sensitive reappraisal of all Dryden's texts—including those less widely known—Atkins shows that Dryden had a lifelong antipathy for all "priests" of whatever sect, whether pagan or Christian; by concentrating on the theme of Dryden's opposition to the clergy and his efforts toward articulating a faith for the layman, Atkins provides an important new way of tracing and evaluating the changes in Dryden's religious position and, with this perspective, offers a new interpretation of Dryden's conversion.

John Dryden (1631-1700) is one of the handful of writers who form the first rank of England's literary pantheon. His works are characterized by intellectual daring and vigor, as well as by imaginative splendor and stylish polish. In addition to his celebrated works, Dryden wrote what is arguably the greatest poem of all times about the Catholic Church -- The Hind and the Panther (1687). The result of his conversion to Catholicism, Dryden's poem honors his newfound church as the immortal Bride of the heavenly Bridegroom. Though his longest original poem, it remains the least understood of all his major works.

This volume contains Dryden's 1688 translation of Dominiques Bouhours "The Life of St. Francis Xavier," a sixteenth century Jesuit and missionary to the Far East.