Nymphs and Satyrs: Poet, Readers, and Irony in Dryden's Ode to Anne Killigrew

N y m p h s a n d S a t y r s : P o e t , R e a d e r s , a n d ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I r o n y in D r y d e n ' s O d e to A n n e K illig r e w PONMLKJIHGFEDCBA C . A N D E R S O N S IL B E R Susanna's m usic touched the baw dy stringsmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA O f those w hite elders; but, escaping, L eft only D eath's ironic scraping. N ow , in its im m ortality, it plays O n the clear viol of her m em ory, A n d m akes a constant sacram ent of praise. Stevens, "P eter Q uince at the C lavier" E in G ott verm ags. W ie aber, sag m ir, soil ein M a n n ihm folgen durch die schm ale Leier? Sein Sinn ist Z w iespalt. A n der K reuzung zw eier H erzw ege steht kein Tem pel fu r A poll. R ilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, I, 3 A large p ortion of th e sixth stan za of D ryd en 's celebrated od e "T o th e P iou s M em ory of th e A ccom p lish t Y ou ng L ad y M rs A n n e K illi­ g rew "— w h ich w as w ritten an d alm ost certain ly p u blish ed n ear th e en d of 1685, w h en D ryd en w as fifty-fou r years old — is d evoted to a d escrip tion of th e " S y lv a n Scen es" of h er p astoral p ain tin gs. T h ere, by th e p oet's accou n t, . . . Nymphs of brightest Form appear, And shaggy Satyrs standing neer, Which them at once admire and fear.1 T h e follow in g p ages am ou n t to a gloss on th ese lin es, w h ich ep ito­ m ize n ot on ly th e p oem in w h ich th ey ap p ear bu t also a featu re of D ryd en 's w ork in th e large, a strain in h is career. "Strain " im p lies op p osition or at least d ifferen ce an d ten sion as w ell as a ch aracteristic ten d en cy or a lin e of d evelop m en t, an d tw o p oten tially an tagon istic con trasts are im m ed iately ap p aren t in th e trip let: brigh t n ym p h s vs. sh aggy satyrs an d ad m iration vs. fear.2 T h ese obviou s op p osition s are com p ou n d ed by a certain syn tactical am bigu ity or strain : w h o 193 194 / S IL B E RZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ad m ires an d fears w h om ? W h at are th e an teced en ts of "W h ich " an d "th em "? Strictly con stru cted , th e gram m ar su ggests th at th e satyrs ad m ire an d fear th e n ym p h s, an d of all straigh tforw ard read in gs of th e lin es th is is u n d ou bted ly th e on e to be p referred . A satyr w h o fears a n ym p h m igh t be th ou gh t som ew h at u n con v en tion al bu t is n ot en tirely so, as ap p ears from a cou p let in K illigrew 's ow n p oem "O n a P ictu re P ain ted by h er self, rep resen tin g tw o N im p h s of D ian a's, on e in a...