Dryden started his literary creation before the end of the Puritan Regency, and dedicated the heroic poem "Commemorating the Death of lord protector" (1659) to Cromwell. 1660, he wrote a poem "The Returning Star", praising the restoration and the restoration of charles ii. His early famous poem "Strange Years" (1667) is about 1666 London fire, plague, Dutch war and other major events.
1670, Dryden was named Poet Laureate and served in the imperial court. Since then, he has written many political poems. For example, Absalom and Archetoff (168 1) is regarded as his excellent satire. Medal (1682) is a poem attacking Whigs and mocking them for inciting people. In the same year, he wrote the satirical poem Mark Flach (1682). Dryden was a puritan. 1682, he wrote a poem "Religion of the laity", denouncing Catholicism, praising the Anglican Church and opposing the unbelievers. 1687, James II tried to turn Britain into a Roman Catholic country, Dryden converted to Catholicism, and wrote a poem "stag and leopard" (1687), praising the Roman Catholic church, comparing it to a clean and immortal stag and insulting the Anglican Church as a dirty and ferocious leopard.
Dryden's two most famous short poems: Song of Santacecilia Festival (1687) and Alexander's Banquet, also known as The Power of Music (1697), praised music as a wonderful art. Dryden's ode and satire marked the establishment of English poetry classicism.
Dryden also wrote many plays, including nearly 30 comedies, tragicomedy, tragedies and operas. He mainly imitated the French tragic poet Gao Naiyi and wrote many "heroic plays". Among them, the better plays are Conquering Granada (1672) and Oren-Zebi (1676). The theme of these heroic tragedies is the contradiction between love and honor. Dryden also adapted Shakespeare's tragedy Anthony and Cleopatra into All for Love (1678). Although he still uses blank poems, he strictly abides by the rules of classicism and writes a perfect tragedy.
Dryden's famous literary criticism works include On Drama Poetry published in 16 18 and Preface to Fables published in 1700. He spoke highly of Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Jonson, Baumont and Fletcher. Dryden is the founder of English literary criticism, and literary historians call the era of his creation "Dryden era".