原文 (英语)

INTRODUCTION. Dryden’s discourses upon Satire and Epic Poetry belong to the latter years of his life, and represent maturer thought than is to be found in his “Essay of Dramatic Poesie.”  That essay, published in 1667, draws its chief interest from the time when it was written.  A Dutch fleet was at the mouth of the Thames.  Dryden represents himself taking a boat down the river with three friends, one of them his brother-in-law Sir Robert Howard, another Sir Charles Sedley, and another