The Augustan Poets

This video is one part of a three-video set about the great English poets, from the late 1600s through the Victorian Age. This volume presents a portrait of two literary giants of the 1700s: John Dryden and Alexander Pope. Dryden, born in 1631, was the foremost literary figure of the Restoration. His essays, poems, and dramas, such as All for Love, won him the title of England's poet laureate. Alexander Pope was famous for his satirical wit in such works as The Dunciad and The Rape of the Lock. With period art, interviews with scholars, and readings from their work, the film paints a picture of the life and times of these important British authors.