In Time of Plague

Mayday! Mayday! 

Working my way through 'Poem of the Day, ed. by Nicholas Albery, I find the focus of May 1st focus is on a translation of a verse by Horace (65-8 BC) from Odes, Bk.III,xxix, by John Dryden (1631-1700). A beautiful poem; self-possessed, positive; good to hold to in time of 'lock down'. 

I knew nothing of Dryden. Given the dates, I realized he must have lived through the Great Plague of London,1665-6.  The rich fled the city, leaving the poor to take the brunt of the disease. Shops, markets, inns, theatres - everything shut. With no work for a poet-playwright, Dryden left for the country, while pandemonium reigned back home; panic escalating to the point where the Govt. ordered a cull of cats & dogs to prevent the spread of the disease, leaving rats to run free. 

The daily death-carts circling the streets, on which corpses were thrown, added to the fear. Switching to nighttime meant corpses were piled up indoors during the day, further spreading infection. However, it proved to be the last occurrence of Bubonic plague in the city, but not before it claimed around a quarter of the population. In the final week of July 1665, out of 3,004 recorded deaths, 2,020 were caused by the disease; believed to be a second wave of the original outbreak that began in China in 1331.

numerous Plague Pits were hastily dug throughout the city, in which the huge daily tally of dead were thrown. Some recently discovered whilst extending the London Underground system.

And then, in 1666 - the Great Fire of London - more destruction and disruption; more homes, businesses, families, livelihoods severely affected. 

I hadn't realized he was our 1st poet laureate. Unfortunately, he lost the title for refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the newly installed monarchy of William & Mary. Dryden also gained enemies for speaking his mind - against King & couriers; and survived being roughed up - behind The Lamb & Flag - an ordered 'hit'. 

I also learned he established the heroic couplet as a standard form of poetry, and, is believed to have been the first person to argue that sentences should end with a preposition.

I've enjoyed working through the book, finding poems I'm new to, and learning more about the poets who wrote them; realizing how much I don't know. 

Along with it being NaPoWriMo last month - write a poem every day for the month of April - both exercises have been an enjoyable discipline. I shared my findings on my Facebook page, but decided I might profit from adapting the --WriMo principle to keeping a blog: PerBloWriMo? - Personal Blog Writing Month? 

Grateful to have 'met' Dryden and his ability to survive whatever Life threw at him; a good example to follow.