l society for 1687 and 1697, and published separately. The second
of these is the famous ode on "Alexander's Feast." The well-known
paraphrase of _Veni, Creator Spiritus_ was posthumously printed, and his
"Ode to the memory of Anne Killigrew," called by Dr Johnson the noblest
ode in the language, was written in 1686.

His next work was to render some of Chaucer's and Boccaccio's tales and
Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ into his own verse. These translations appeared
in November 1699, a few months before his death, and are known by the
title of _Fables, Ancient and Modern_. The preface, which is an
admirable example of Dryden's prose, contains an excellent appreciation
of Chaucer, and, incidentally, an answer to Jeremy Collier's attack on
the stage. Thus a large portion of the closing years of Dryden's life
was spent in translating for bread. He had a windfall of 500 guineas
from Lord Abingdon for a poem on the death of his wife in 1691, and he
received liberal presents from his cousin John Driden and from the duke
of Ormonde, but generally he was in considerable pecuniary straits.
Besides, his three sons held various posts in the service of the pope at
Rome, and he could not well be on good terms with both courts. However,
he was not molested in London by the government, and in private he was
treated with the respect due to his old age and his admitted position as
the greatest of living English poets. He held a small court at Wills's
coffee-house, where he spent his evenings; here he had a chair by the
fire in winter and by the window in summer; Congreve, Vanbrugh and
Addison were among his admirers, and here Pope saw the old poet of whom
he was to be the most brilliant disciple. He died at his house in
Gerrard Street, London, on the 1st of May 1700 and was buried on the
13th of the month in Westminster Abbey. Dryden's portrait, by Sir G.
Kneller, is in the National Portrait Gallery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_The Comedies, Tragedies and Operas written by John
Dryden, Esq._ (2 vols., 1701) was published by Tonson, who also issued
the poet's _Dramatick Works_ (6 vols., 1717), edited by Congreve.
_Poems on Various Occasions and Translations from Several Authors_
(1701), also published by Tonson, was very incomplete, and although
other editions followed there was no satisfactory collection until the
edition of the _Works_ (18 vols., 1808, 2nd ed. 1821) by Sir Walter
Scott, who supplied historical and critical notes with a li