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His first tragedy, Albovine, King of the Lombards, was brought out in 1629; and his earlier work was therefore contemporary with that of Massinger and Ford. But much beyond this his relation to the Elizabethans can hardly claim to go.
D. wrote 25 dramatic pieces, among which are Albovine, King of the Lombards , Platonick Lovers , The Wits , Unfortunate Lovers , Love and Honour . None of them are now read; and the same may be said of Gondibert, considered a masterpiece by contemporaries. He coll. his miscellaneous verse under the title of Madagascar.
The above dates are enough to disprove the common belief that the heroic drama, rhymed couplet and all, was imported from France. Albovine, as we have seen, has every mark of the heroic drama, except the couplet; and Albovine was written seven years before the first masterpiece of Corneille, one year before his first attempt at tragedy.
The historical plot, the metallic ring of the verse, Let all glad hymns in one mix'd concord sound, And make the echoing heavens your mirth rebound. Act i. I am the broom of heaven; when the world grows foul, I'll sweep the nations into the sea, like dust. Act ii. It is noticeable that both passages are spoken by Albovine himself, a very creditable elder brother of Dryden's Maximin and Almanzor.
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