Dryden has sometimes been regarded as a writer narrowly of his period, a Restoration satirist whose work is largely concerned with the personalities, debates, and tastes of his own age. In this study David Hopkins shows him to be both a man of his time and a writer for all times - a great philosophical poet, the author of penetrating and exhilarating verse of general and permanent interest about love, the natural world, and the laws of human life. Dr Hopkins also analyses the personal, commercial, political, literary, and religious influences on his writing, and discusses in detail his major poetry, prose, and drama - paying special attention to the often neglected verse translations of his old age. With its emphasis on Dryden as a poet - as opposed simply to topical commentator or controversialist - the book will prove an ideal introduction for students of his work.