In the age of Dryden, there was a tendency of leaning towards ‘classicism’. However, this classicism was somewhat different from the classical spirit which we associate with the great Greek and Latin writers. Theirs was a degenerate kind of criticism but the ‘classical’ school of poetry which was already prominent in the age of Dryden started demonstrating its prominent features in the early years of the eighteenth century.
Classical poetry is deficient in emotion and imagination. It is non-lyrical and wit is exalted here at the expense of imagination. It is basically satiric and didactic. Classical poetry does not show any real love for nature or the country life. It is almost entirely wanting in all those elements which are vaguely summed up under the epithet ‘romantic’. Classicism is opposed to enthusiasm and exuberance of imagination, which are the chief traits of Romanticism. Form and content are valued more than subject-matter in classical poetry:
“True Wit is nature to advantage dressed:
What oft was thought but ne’er so well expressed.”
Classical poetry shows an intense desire for superficial elegance. Simplicity and directness of expression were replaced by an utterly inane and artificial phraseology. A poet who adhered to this school of thought used ‘aurora’ for the simple ‘morning’, ‘refulgent lamp of the night’ for the ‘moon’. Heroic couplet was very well suited to the poetry of this age because of its epigrammatic neatness and terseness. However, this heroic couplet was considered monotonous for lyrical poetry.
