The notes on this poem are historical and very full, but the introduction contains as much literary as historical comment.

_Religio Laici_ is prefaced by 8 pages of introduction, in which are discussed the motive of the writing, the argument, the title, the purpose of the poem, and its reputation.

Dryden's style in didactic poetry is compared with Cowper's, to the disadvantage of the later poet.

The introduction to _The Hind and the Panther_ is 20 pages long, and discusses the history of the period as well as the argument of the poem, its style, the subject of fables in general, and the effects the poem produced.

The notes on this poem are copious.