John Dryden (1631-1700), English poet and playwright. Dryden was born in Northamptonshire, the eldest of 14 children. In 1644 he went to Westminster School where he received a classical education. In 1650 he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge and graduated in 1654. He then moved to London and shortly after the death of Cromwell published his first major poem, Heroique Stanzas. He was soon established as the leading poet and playwright of the Restoration era. He excelled in Restoration Comedy, his best known being Marriage a la Mode. His poetry established the use of the heroic couplet, influential to writers such as Pope, and he made translations of Virgil, Homer and Ovid. In 1668 he was made Poet laureate. This engraving by Jacobous Houbraken, based on a portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, is from Birch's 'The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain' published in 1752.