Dryden's Annus Mirabilis

The section assigned to read of this poem were very interesting. It basically told about the Great Fire of London in 1666. This part of Annus Mirabilis seems to be divided into two parts, which represent a "during" and "after" look of the event. The first part, which is considerably smaller than the second, is about the actual fire that has destroyed the city. The second part, however, is all about the new rising and rebuilding of London, which is extremely optomistic and maybe even somewhat of a hyperbole. I say this because the new city is compared to both a queen and a godly figure. First Dryden calls London "More great than human, now, and more August,/ New deified she from her fires does rise" (1177-1178), which puts the city way up on a pedastal, almost like a god. Several stanzas later, London is used in a simile with a "Maiden Queen" (1185), yet another high power over man kind. Now, before London was reconstructed, and even before the fire, Dryden refers to the city as a sheperdess "who sat to bathe her by a river's side" (1182). He considers the city to have been much more modest and humble then, but does not present this as a necessarily good trait. The idea that London later became a huge power house that declared its worth seems more important to Dryden. Over all the comparisons of London to higher powers are very interesting as they seem to personify the city into controlling those around it.

Something I noticed that seemed possibly important to this poem, is the fact that London is always referred to as a female, and the fire that burned it down is referred to as a male. For example, in line 845, London is called an "empress." This is before the Great Fire came and burned the city down. Then we are introduced to the fire, as if it is a character: "His birth, perhaps, some petty village hides,/ And sets his cradle out of fortune's way" (851-852). It could be that a city is typically considered female, much like ships are always femininely named, and fire just sounds male, but I think there could be more to it than that. It could be that Dryden feels a little compassion for women. Perhaps he believes that in beauty, women hold a lot of power and should definitely flaunt and use to advantage. Going with that, he also might believe that males have a tendency for destruction, especially that of seemingly successful females. The fire (male) burns down London (female) because that is what men are supposed to do. Well, that is just an idea anyway. But I think it's an important aspect in this section of Annus Mirabilus.