Absalom and Achitophel

by John Dryden

Excerpt from Absalom and Achitophel:

'Thebes did his green unknowing youth engage, He chooses Athens in his riper age.'

But these lines prove nothing, being probably prompted by no other motive than the desire of the moment to please an Oxford audience. A passage in a letter from Dryden to Wilmot Earl of Rochester, written in 1675, in which he sends him copies of a Prologue and Epilogue for Oxford, composed on another occasion, shows that all he wrote for Oxford may not be sincere. He tells Rochester that the pieces were approved, 'and by the event your lordship will judge how easy 'tis to pass anything upon an University, and what gross attery the learned will endure.

But Dryden's life at Cambridge had not passed always pleasantly. In the second year of his residence at Trinity...

Genres: Poetry, Classics, 17th Century, Satire, English Literature, History, Politics

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1681

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. Walter Scott called him "Glorious John."

Reviews

[Randyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am nowhere near sufficiently well read in poetry to use the term "neglected classic" here, but I am surprised at how low Dryden's stock seems to be valued on Goodreads and among critics in general. In fact it seems so out of proportion to the obvious quality of this work that I've come up with a theory here:

When Dryden was writing, poetry seems to have been used in a very different way than it is today, with satire and political commentary and witty epigrams being the emphasis, whereas modern poetry, to paint with too broad a brush to be sure, is much more about internal emotional states or depictions of the natural world. You know:

"O the birds and the trees and the winds and the flowers, how pretty are they and then I have a bunch of feelings blah blah blah."

Except a little better, granted.

Dryden is going for something entirely different here, with insightful comments on political theories and historical drifts:

They led their wild desires to woods and caves,
And thought that all but savages were slaves.

Or:

And David's mildness managed it so well,
The bad found no occasion to rebel.
But when to sin our biased nature leans
The careful devil is still at hands with means.

No wandering lonely as a cloud down the path less traveled while glorying in god for dappled things and singing a song to himself for this poet. No sir. Augustan poets were ironic and looking for pithy insights into great events and human nature. Eg:

Plots, true or false, are necessary things,
To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.

The particular event being chronicled is ostensibly King David of Israel dealing with the rebellion of his illegitimate but much loved son Absalom who has been lead astray by the sith-lord advisor Achitophel. However what it's actually about is Charles II, the king of England at the time (1681) and his son the Duke of Monmouth who had been similarly lead astray by the Earl of Shaftesbury. (Yes, you will need an edition with good footnotes.) Achitophel is brilliant and mad with ambition:

Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.

He is full of plots within plots and incredibly cunning and persuasive. Wouldn't you be tempted into overambitious reaching if someone told you this?:

Swift unbespoken pomps thy steps proclaim,
And stammering babes are taught to lisp thy name.
How long wilt thou the general joy detain,
Starve and defraud the people of thy reign;
Believe me, royal youth, thy fruit must be
Or gathered ripe, or rot upon the tree.

But Achitophel is playing a game of his own. Monmouth/Absalon is of low birth on his mother's side and thus would be insecure in his kingship should he attain it:

That kingly power, thus ebbing out, might be
Drawn to the dregs of democracy.

Keep in mind that this is all taking place only a few decades after the English Civil war when Charles I (the father of Charles II) had been executed by Oliver Cromwell and the roundheads and while the monarchy had subsequently been restored, there were those who for reasons of either political theory or religion or just general discontent were unhappy with the current state of things. Dryden however, despite flirting with democratic sentiments as a young man is now a firm monarchist. Through allegory, satire and wit Dryden captures the ideas and controversies of the time in this epic poem and really puts you in the whirl of conflicting passions and ideologies of post-Restoration England. So why is it so unappreciated?! Here comes that aforementioned theory.

People who self-select as "liking poetry" in the modern context are as a general rule looking for something quite different than what Dryden is offering. Poetry changed entirely with the Romantics a la Keats and Byron and that's the school modern poetry readers are in or closer to. So who would like this poem? The kind of person who is interested in history and political theory, the kind who thinks Richard III or Julius Caesar are more interesting plays than The Tempest or Much Ado About Nothing, and probably the sort who would rather read a good biography of Andrew Jackson than Whitman's Song of Myself. And these are not the sort who will typically pick up a really long poem to read. Which is too bad, because they are really the ones who would enjoy this the most!

[Nidhi Mahajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The poem explores Restoration politics through Biblical allusions (knowledge of both is a precursor to put the poem in context). If you're planning to study Dryden (out of interest or for class), I recommend that you read Mac Flecknoe first. I found Mac Fleknoe to be more accessible than Absalom and Achitophel, though the latter seems to be more representative of Dryden as a poet and satirist.

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Dryden wrote this when England was going through another religious turmoil, the royals on the throne were changing their alliance from Protestant back to Catholic. England had been here before over a good century earlier. The background notes to this poem mentions how Dryden, who recently converted to Catholicism, was putting himself in a vulnerable position. It’s not wrong as England will change back to Protestant.

John Dryden, one of England's Poet Laureates was well regarded for a short time. In reading about The Enlightenment this poem gets referenced a lot and is viewed as a masterpiece. So, I located it in a book from Gutenberg and read it.

My first impressions, I was not gripped by it, the rhyming couplets (one book referencing this poem called it heroic couplet). It reminded me why modern poets wanted to break away from this, for them this technique was speaking better to its own time. So, this was a struggle for me, and it didn't help I knew little of biblical stories to grasp the religious allegory. Instead, I enjoyed reading other people’s views of this poem more. They explained how another religious upheaval was making the political landscape of King and Parliament complicated.

To me, Dryden does not come across as an enlightened man, later in life his conversion to Catholicism doesn’t go down too well, and towards the end he dies in poverty, almost like it's forgotten he was held in high esteem at one time.

This could explain why I've not heard of him before, unlike his peers John Milton and Andrew Marvell. Looking through his page on Gutenberg, it’s astounding how much work he has produced, each book is a volume that gathers his plays and poetry, including a stage version of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Now intrigued what he will make of these, I will be reading both this year.

here’s the opening and closing lines of this very long poem
From Part I, the beginning of the poem
—Si propiùs stes
Te capiet magis—
In pious times, ere priestcraft did begin,
Before polygamy was made a sin;
When man on many multiplied his kind,
Ere one to one was cursedly confined;
When nature prompted, and no law denied
Promiscuous use of concubine and bride;
Then Israel's monarch after Heaven's own heart,
His vigorous warmth did variously impart
To wives and slaves; and wide as his command,
Scatter'd his Maker's image through the land. 10

From Part II, the end of the poem
This year did Ziloah rule Jerusalem,
And boldly all sedition's surges stem,
Howe'er encumber'd with a viler pair
Than Ziph or Shimei to assist the chair;
Yet Ziloah's loyal labours so prevail'd,
That faction at the next election fail'd,
When even the common cry did justice found,
And merit by the multitude was crown'd:
With David then was Israel's peace restored,
Crowds mourn'd their error, and obey'd their lord. 1140

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Absalom and Achitophel’ deals with a political catastrophe which England faced during the years 1679-81. Charles II became King of England in 1660. His reign is generally known as the Restoration (meaning the restoration of monarchy in England).

The poem deals with the predicament that was caused by the problem of the succession to the throne. Charles II had married Catherine of Braganza in 1662, but she had given him no child. However, he had begotten a number of illicit children by his mistresses.

As he had no rightful child, the crown was to pass to his brother, the Duke of York. While the Duke of York was a Roman Catholic, a hefty mass of the English population were Protestants who did not delight in the idea of having a King of the opposite faith.

There were two political parties in the picture. The Tories supported the King in his intention to decide the question of succession in favour of his brother, the Duke of York. But the Whigs were opposed to the claim of the Duke of York. They favoured the Duke of Monmouth, who was an illegitimate son of the King and a Protestant, as a claimant to the throne.

The Earl of Shaftesbury was the principal leader of the Whig Party. The quandary became more intricate when a certain individual by the name of Titus Oates declared that he had discovered a plot formed by the Roman Catholics to assassinate the King.

This was the alleged Popish Plot, which was afterward proved to be utterly phony.

Dryden's poem is based on these political events. The Popish Plot is referred to in Lines 108-115. Then there is the Temptation Scene (Lines 230-302 and Lines 376-476) in which the Earl of Shaftesbury is able to prove to the Duke of Monmouth that he has a strapping and compelling claim to the throne.

Shaftesbury dexterously employs obsequiousness in order to itch Monmouth's ego, and then goes on to arouse in him the aspiration to become the King of England (this being an objective which already unclearly existed in the Duke's mind).

Lines 230-249 contain pure sycophancy, while the rest of Shaftesbury's speech contains a complex arguments supporting Monmouth's claim to the throne. The first speech of Shaftesbury has its preferred outcome when Dryden says that even potent minds can be influenced by praise, and that flattery soothes a person and desire blinds him. However, the Duke of Monmouth seems to be somewhat doubtful and diffident.

Shaftesbury, finding that he has already partly produced the desired effect on the Duke's mind, continues his reasoning and is able to prove to Monmouth about the unassailability and fairness of his standpoint.

Shaftesbury achieves an inclusive triumph over the mind of Monmouth who cannot now resist Shaftesbury's offer. However, Dryden does not condemn Monmouth's choice in straight terms. He did not wish to offend Monmouth who was a favourite of the King. His criticism of Monmouth is mingled with compassion, and he writes: "Tis juster to lament him than accuse".

In the writing of Absalom and Achitophel, what is possibly most extraordinary is the way in which Dryden used the allegory. The biblical allegory helped Dryden to raise his poem to a distinguished echelon without falling into the bathos.

But this was not the only benefit of employing the allegory. The allegory also acted as the instrument of Dryden's sparkling humorousness. Additionally, it helped to give the poem an air of impartiality.

The atypical eminence of the poem, however, lies in the wit which pervades it --- from the ironic opening picture of Charles II's harem, through the depiction of Achitophel as the Devil's advocate, to the other portraits of the King's enemies.

Dryden's wittiness is unambiguously and luminously satirical in his rendering of Zimri (the Duke of Buckingham), Shimei (Slingsby Bathel) and Corah (Titus Oates). To such portraits, touched with every satirical device, the poem owes its fame.

Absalom and Achitophel was intentionally written, as every line decrees, to please the King. The King was known for his rapidity in banter and his partiality for extensive allusions. It was because Charles was a sharp man that Dryden was free to use for his poem a new alloy, skilful blending of heroic acclamation, satire, discourse, and witty commentary.

It is the brilliant wit of the poem that has acted as its superlative stabilizer.

The brilliance of Dryden's wit may be illustrated with a few examples. In his portrait of Achitophel, Dryden refers to Achitophel's son as "that unfeathered, two legged thing, born a shapeless lump, like anarchy".

And he tells us that this son was conceived by Achitophel's wife at a moment when Achitophel's mind "did huddled notions try".

There is a touch of roughness here, but we are certainly amused by Dryden's witty attack. In his portrait of Shimei, we get a sequence of statements in each of which the second part comes as an anti-climax to the first part. Thus, Shimei showed much zeal towards God but a lot of abhorrence towards his king. He never broke the Sabbath, but for gain. He never uttered an oath or a curse, unless it was against the government. He accumulated wealth by the most convenient way, which was to cheat and pray.

In his hand he held the rod of justice, but his neck was loaded with a chain of gold. In all these cases, the italicized phrases or sentences come like an anti-climax, and in each case we feel very much amused by Dryden's wit. Dryden also makes a witty reference to Shimei's cooks who had forgotten their skill because of long disuse.

Dryden's intelligence is seen also in his acidic assault on Corah, particularly in the lines where the author paradoxically links Corah's physical features to certain temperamental traits. But the most noticeable example of Dryden's wit is to be found in his portrait of Zimri. Zimri, we are told, regularly changed his hobbies and pursuits. Like a madman, he tried to employ every hour of his life with something new to enjoy. He thoughtlessly squandered his wealth. Both in praising people and condemning them, Zimri went to the extremes. Zimri is, certainly, depicted more as a fool than as a knave. But we here get one of the masterpieces of witty representation.

The importance attached by Renaissance critics to the moral of a heroic poem helps further to explain the relationship between Absalom and Achitophel and epic (or heroic) verse. An epic did not tell a story for its own sake; it was essentially a patriotic and dideatic composition.

The epic poem is a discourse invented by art to form the manners, by such instructions as are disguised under the allegories of some one important action, which is related in verse, after probable, diverting and surprising manner. This description fits Absalom and Achitophel splendidly.

[Meem Arafat Manab · Rating 4 out of 5]

ড্রাইডেন নামের যোগ্য কবি বটেন, স্বীকার করে নিতে হচ্ছে।
তাঁর ছন্দজ্ঞান বলেন, আর পরিমিতি-জ্ঞান, মানে সে-যুগে ত আজকের মত বা গত দেড়শো বছরের মতও কবিতা লেখার চল হয় নাই, সুতরাং ছন্দের আর পরিমিতিবোধের যুগপৎ জ্ঞানের বাইরে আর কোনো কিছুর কি খুব প্রয়োজন পড়তো? এগুলোও ত খুবপরি শস্তা নয়, চর্চ্চার ব্যাপার আছে, মোকশো করবার ব্যাপার আছে। তাছাড়া, এই বইটা পড়বার একটা মজা হচ্ছে, এইখানে কবিতার পেছনে পেছনে কবি বলতেছেন ঐ জেমসের নাতি দ্বিতীয় চার্লস ক্রমওয়েল মরলে পরে যখন মসনদে ফিরে আসে, তখন কীভাবে তার পুত্র মনমাউথ তার বিরুদ্ধে হুদা-ই বিদ্রোহ করতে গেলো সেই নিয়ে, এবং পুরাটা তিনি বলতেছেন বাইবেলের একটা গল্প তুলে দেয়ার ভেতর দিয়ে - এই যুগের (লেখকের এই যুগ, আমাদের তিরিশ যুগ আগে) কারো নাম না বলে একবারও।

পিছায়ে থাকলে ড্রাইডেন হয়ত পিছায়ে থাকবেন এই প্রসঙ্গেই। তার এই বইখানি কাব্যিকতার জোরে অনেকখানি উতরায়, কিন্তু বিষয়বস্তু আমার দুয়ারে জায়গা পায় না। ঐতিহাসিক গুরুত্ব থাকলেও, অন্য কোনো নাম যেরকম নাড়া দিতে পারতো, দ্বিতীয় চার্লস আমারে তেমন নাড়া দেয় না। আবার উল্টা খত ধরে যদি বলি, মার্লোর টেম্বারলেইন ত আর তৈমুর লং না, মার্লোরই টেম্বারলেইন, এবং আমি তারে নিয়েই যুঝতে শিখি, পড়তে পড়তে তার দিকেই ঝুঁকতে শিখি, কিন্তু এই বই শেষমেষ একটা কালের সাক্ষীই, এর বেশি কিছু না। জনৈক সমালোচক নাকী এটারে বলছিলেন বিশুদ্ধ কবিতার শীর্ষস্থল, অন্যত্র সেই সমালোচকই আরেক বই বিষয়ে বলছিলেন, শুধু কিম্ভূত হলেই টিকে থাকা যায় না, ঐ আরেক বই টিকবে না, আমি অবাক হয়ে দেখি, সেই কিম্ভূত বই টিকে গেছে, এই সুন্দর কাব্যগ্রন্থ খুঁজে পাওয়া মুশকিল হয়ে দাঁড়ায়েছে দিন কে দিন।
হয়ত, এই বই আরেকটু কিম্ভূত হলেই -

অবশ্য টেকাটাও ত সব নয়। বেশ সুন্দর একখান কবিতা ছুটে গেলো হাজার বারোশ পদ, জড়োয়া গয়নার মত কারুকাজ করা তার জঠরে জঠরে।

[Leslie Wexler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's give credit where credit is due on this one - sure it is a political allegory that suits Restoration "popish plots" and exclusion claims on the succession of the Royal Monarchy, but it's still pretty intriguing. Just using the word popish...i know sounds awful. Yet ask yourself this, would you be interested in an intriguing expose of Tony Blair trying to convince Kate Middleton, newly converted to Scientology, that she should usurp the throne and become the next queen if you saw it in Hello magazine on the checkout stand at the grocery store? I think it might have just enough, "wtf" to make people interested. Give it a read, just for kicks and think about how that monarchical succession still exists in England, and what it might have been like when the parliament had little control over matters. I think the people hanging around the Restoration were taken with Dryden and his topical poetry.

[Prerna Vijayeni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant political allegory, witty satire laced with biblical imagery, some manipulated some authentic, but one surely has to read it twice to fully get it. Political upheaval of the time gave Dryden a chance to display his literary talent. After this stoke of genius nobody remembers him as a dramatist, but only as a man of verses!

[Azmir Fakir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absalom and Achitophel is a celebrated satirical poem by John Dryden, written in heroic couplets and first published in 1681. The poem tells the Biblical tale of the rebellion of Absalom against King David; in this context it is an allegory used to represent a story contemporary to Dryden, concerning King Charles II

[dilara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dryden is the Petyr Baelish of English lit.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly. this is a hard read, and by hard I do mean somewhat tedious and confusing for the modern reader, especially without the necessary notes or historical background.

However, I was shocked by all these predominantly negative reviews. This is a classic for crying out loud, one of Dryden's masterpieces and one of the most relevant and controversial works of the poetry of eighteenth century poetry in England. The historical implications are astronomical, its biblical allusions merely a disguise for its bold political statements. In many ways it was prophetic, in many others revolutionary.

This, I believe, could only had been achieved by a third party poet in those 'tumultuous' times through satire and anonymity, something which Dryden has single-handedly proved, but for once through poetry and not by bloody violence.

For any believing Christian, 'Absalom and Achitophel' is interesting in the way that these events from the Ancient Testament were similar, if not identical, to the history of the restoration and all the rebellions and characters and so on. I mean it is not just mysteriously strange, but prophetic. Who says history does not repeat itself, eh? Consider that there is a difference of some years between David and Charles the Second...

However, you do not have to be a believer to appreciate this masterpiece. From a literary, political and historical perspective, it is also of profound interest. Although the comparison between Absalom and the Duke of Monmouth and between Achitophel and the Earl of Shaftesbury was not entirely original, Dryden's style is, without a doubt, superior and more in depth and provoking. He goes beyond these two such comparisons, to the extent of comparing the people's dissatisfaction with their 'God Given and State Protected Freedom', which even nowadays is grossly underappreciated, with "Adam Wits". Outstanding, pure class.

Of course, I have not rewarded 'Absalom and Achitophel' with the expected 5/5, especially after all my praise (which is in by no means adequate, I must humbly admit). However, I have considered that, despite all its Biblical allusions and political statements, it is to some extent tedious to the general reader, as is pointed out in all its reviews on Goodreads.

[Haneen A. Hijjawi]

This satire was written on the eve of the trial of the Duke of Buckingham( the Zimri of the poem), charged with high treason for attempting to prevent the accession to the throne of the Duke of the York, later King James ll. Buckingham, one of the leaders of the Whig party, tried unsuccessfully to have Parliament declare the Duke of Monmouth--the Absalom of the poem--next in line for the throne. The Achitophel is the Earl of Shaftesbury, who with Buckingham led the Whigs. Dryden drew these names from the Bible--chiefly 2 Samuel--for the parallels which he found with the existing situation in England.
Nice book.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Restoration politics retold through biblical allusions are not my thing in this life. Maybe next round.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly, quite a simple read for England's poet laureate.

[Ivy]

(With that he wiped his eyes) line 717 made me cry laugh

[Alex Lauff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nevermind my earlier wrong opinion this is hilarious

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Dryden’s Absolom and Achitophel is a 1681 political poem that deals with the attempted coup on Charles II by his son, The Duke of Monmouth. With sharp satirical wit, Dryden presents the Biblical story of David and Absolom in what would have been for the readers of his time a very thinly veiled reference to the current king and son.

Even discounting the historical and political nature of the poem, Dryden is an insightful poet, and many of his observances rang true, even in a world where the divine rights of kings has all but disappeared.

He deftly dissects Zimri, a follower of Absolom, and I had no doubt that the gentry of England were all laughing and identifying his counterpart:

Some of their chiefs were princes of the land:
In the first rank of these did Zimri stand:
A man so various, that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome.
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong;
Was everything by starts, and nothing long:
But in the course of one revolving moon,
Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon:
Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking;
Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking.
Blest madman, who could every hour employ,
With something new to wish, or to enjoy!

I could certainly recognize the validity of these observances in today’s world:

But far more numerous was the herd of such,
Who think too little, and who talk too much.


So over violent, or over civil,
That every man, with him, was god or devil.


For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolv'd by might?
Nor is the people's judgment always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few.

I remembered enjoying studying Dryden in college and was delighted to find him both easy, fun and interesting to me now. I was happy to still have my notes penciled in the margins of the poem, a memory of a favorite teacher and a long-lost time.

[Michael Haase · Rating 2 out of 5]

This text is a superb example of antiquated writing, marred as it is by obscure references to people and places, stand-ins for contemporaries of his time whom have little or no meaning to the modern reader. Moreover, it's mired in flagrantly antisemitic/monotheistic rhetoric which makes it appear more like a diatribe; deliberately antagonistic and intolerant.

Moreover, the narrative of the poem is overwhelmed with character portraiture. More than half of the poem consists of descriptions of a person or group of people, one after another, but again, because these characters represent his contemporaries, they hold very little relevance to the modern day. They act more as inside jokes between peers than serious literature.

Even the rhymes sounded dry and unappealing. I never once felt the spark of emotional fervor or hint of philosophical profundity I expected to find while I read this.

[Marci Heatherly · Rating 5 out of 5]

bold choice to write a piece of literature that is simultaneously a political satire, mock heroic narrative, and allegory aligned with 2 Samuel and Absalom’s uprising… but two thumbs up to John Dryden bc this was epic.

The textbook I read this in said that this work is often regarded as the finest political satire in the English language, and I see why. It did take me an hour to read this poem due to the overwhelming amount of allusions to the Bible and Brit Civil War events, but it was worth it.

Side note: hilariously funny choice from Dryden’s brain to have King David representing Charles ll .. I was cackling.

[lucy snow · Rating 2 out of 5]

i hate reading long poems more than i can express to you.

i like the form, the lovely rhymes. they helped me to pushing through.

i think maybe the issue is that i don't know anything about the story, or the biblical original, so was completely lost. i know a bit about the exclusion crisis so that was slightly helpful but i was still not having a very easy time reading.

maybe ill amend this review next week when we actually study it. (spoilers, i won't.)

[disclaimed that i am aware this is one of those texts where i know it is objectively good, but i cannot appreciate it properly]

[Hadeer Salem · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poem is political . it is a symbolic poem , a bibical allegory have a hidden meaning in addition to its surface meaning . it is about two events ; one is historical and the other is factual . Dryden use the historical one to refere the factual one . he use the bibical story of the revolt of "Absalom" against his father "king David" as a parallel to the revolt of "Duke of monmouth" against his father "king charles" .

[Amaranta · Rating 3 out of 5]

When long driven back, at length it stands the ground." / He said. The Almighty, nodding, gave consent;
And peals of thunder shook the firmament. / Henceforth a series of new time began, / The mighty years in long procession ran: / "Once more the godlike David was restored, /And willing nations knew their lawful lord.

I just read a review that says: "I'm still not a fan of Restoration literature" and SAME

[Andrew Noselli · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those of you really into 17th-century English politics of the Restoration period, here is a dramatic poem a la clef, expertly done by the finest English poet of all time, excepting Shakespeare and Milton.

[Ipshita Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

John DRYden indeed, this is the most unexciting poem I've ever read.

[Ruby Yaquot · Rating 5 out of 5]

وصفه لليهود دقيق ... و عجبنى
لكن بالنسبة لداود وابنائها والمعارك العرش دى انفيها لان الله يقول وورث سليمان داوود ...

[jb-rand · Rating 1 out of 5]

What's this guy's problem with Jewish people.

[Nicole Bosse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relatively quick read, interesting plot line. Very antiquated language (to be expected whole reading a 400 yo book)

[zuzu]

david really said you better watch yourself

[Pranto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long live King David!

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and thought out satire from long ago.

[Igor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The English Parnassus: An Anthology Chiefly of Longer Poems