Dryden's experimentation with form helped pave the way for which later poet's celebrated wit?

• A. John Milton
• B. Samuel Johnson
• C. Jonathan Swift
• D. Alexander Pope

Answer: (D)

Dryden's experimentation with form pushed English poetry toward a sharper, more precise style that could carry satire with wit and ease. He popularized the heroic couplet and used it to deliver pointed, balanced lines, showing how tight form could enhance cleverness and impact. Alexander Pope took that groundwork and refined it to perfection, making the witty, epigrammatic voice in polished heroic couplets his signature. In short, Dryden’s form experiments opened the path that Pope famously walked, turning wit into a defining feature of his poetry.