Everything you need to know about "to the memory of Mr. Oldham" by john Dryden.(including lit.devices and themes)

 

To the memory of Mr. Oldham by john Dryden

 

·       John Dryden was and English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright.

·       He also contributed greatly to the literary field through is odes, elegies, prologues, and epilogues.

Overview

·       Written in 1684

·       Direct references to the demise of John Oldham.

·       Dryden penetrates through Oldham’s literary knack and poetic approach at his sudden demise – premature death in his 30’s – and writes this poem.

·       Dryden’s elegy “to the memory of Mr. Oldham” presents a tribute in verse to the poetic achievement of John Oldham.

·       In 24 lines of heroic couplets, an unusual verse form for an elegy, Dryden laments Oldham’s premature death and assesses this literary merit.

 

Tone – measured grief (sees death in a positive POV)

Narration – second person, Dryden himself addresses Mr. Oldham

Main technique – metaphor and allusion 

 

Themes

·       Allusion

·       Kinship with a stranger

·       Artfulness and age

 

Literary techniques

·       1-4 lines metaphor/contrast

·       5-8 lines metaphor/irony

·       8-12 lines metaphor/rhetorical question

·       13-16 lines foreshadowing/personification

·       17-20 lines oxymoron/metaphor

·       21-24 lines Juxtaposition/metaphor/metonymy and synecdoche/symbols