All For Love: Epilogue Summary & Analysis

Dryden observes that poets only have one weapon: words, and more specifically, insults. He comments particularly on the war of words between “verse” (which is to say, poets and playwrights) and “prose” (which is to say, critics). He calls this a “civil war,” since both groups are in the business of professional writing. For his part, Dryden claims that he is just a “poor wretch” who aims to please audiences with his writing, even if critics like “Mr. Bayes”—the pseudonym which the Duke of Buckingham used when he satirized Dryden in The Rehearsal (1671)—don’t like his work.

If he must be judged for this play, Dryden hopes that he will be judged by the “fair sex.” Men might be interested in Octavius’s ambition, but women will enjoy the story of a man, Antony, who died “all for love.” Dryden grants that some old women might say that this story is unrealistic and has nothing to do with society today, but he argues that this is because they are ugly and wrinkled and can’t enjoy the pleasures of love anymore. Instead, he asks to be judged by the “young and beauteous,” since “young wits and sparks” are the poet’s best defense against his critics.