He wrote an ode for the coronation in 1661, and a poetical tribute to Clarendon, the Lord High Chancellor, the king's better self.
To Dryden, as a writer of plays, we shall recur in a later chapter, when the other dramatists of the age will be considered.
A concurrence of unusual events in 1665, brought forth the next year the "Annus Mirabilis," or _Wonderful Year_, in which these events are recorded with the minuteness of a chronicle.

This is indeed its chief value; for, praised as it was at the time, it does not so well bear the analysis of modern criticism.
ANNUS MIRABILIS .-- It describes the great naval battle with the Dutch; the fire of London; and the ravages of the plague.

The detail with which these are described, and the frequent felicity of expression, are the chief charm of the poem.

In the refreshingly simple diary of Pepy's, we find this jotting under date of 3d February, 1666-7: "_Annus Mirabilis_.

I am very well pleased this night with reading a poem I brought home with me last night from Westminster Hall, of Dryden's, upon the present war: a very good poem." Dryden's subserviency, aided by the power of his pen, gained its reward.
In 1668, on the death of Sir William Davenant, he was appointed Laureate, and historiographer to the king, with an annual salary of L200.