John Dryden

John Dryden

1631-1700

Marriage a-la-Mode

Why should a foolish marriage vow,

         Which long ago was made,

Oblige us to each other now

         When passion is decay'd?

We lov'd, and we lov'd, as long as we could,

         Till our love was lov'd out in us both:

But our marriage is dead, when the pleasure is fled:

         'Twas pleasure first made it an oath.

If I have pleasures for a friend,

         And farther love in store,

What wrong has he whose joys did end,

         And who could give no more?

'Tis a madness that he should be jealous of me,

         Or that I should bar him of another:

For all we can gain is to give our selves pain,

         When neither can hinder the other.

 

John Dryden is considered one of the greatest poets and playwrights of the 17th century. As a poet he is most famous for his satirical poems, however his poem Marriage a-la-Mode fits under both categories of Augustan poetry, satire and politics. First, the title, "Marriage a-la-Mode," is satirical because we mostly use the phrase "a-la-mode" to mean without sides, or by itself when ordering a meal, however he uses it in reference to a marriage. The poem in it's entirety addresses a political and religious debate, that of marriage and divorce and why people stay together when they do not love each other.