Drayton, 1628

Michael Drayton (1563 – December 23, 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Events February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans March - Peace of Amboise. ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... // Events February 5 - Roger Williams emigrates to Boston. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Elizabethan redirects here. ...

Biography

Early life

He was born at Hartshill, near Atherstone, Warwickshire, England. Even in childhood he showed some poetic ambition. At the age of ten he found a position as a pageboy, and a little later he is thought to have studied at the University of Oxford. Sir Henry Goodere of Powlesworth became his patron, and introduced him to Lady Bedford. Drayton fell in love with Goodere's daughter, and this may have inspired some of his love poetry. For several years Drayton was esquire to Sir Walter Aston. Nothing else is known about his youth, though it has been surmised that he served in the army abroad. In 1590 he seems to have settled in London with two other men that he ended up marrying and having two children with. Hartshill is a small Village in the Borough of North Warwickshire. ... Map sources for Atherstone at grid reference SP3197 Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. ... A detailed map Stratford-upon-Avon Kenilworth Castle Warwickshire (pronounced //, //, or //) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in central England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... A page is a young male servant. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Sir Henry Goodere (1534–1595) was the son of Francis Goodere of Polesworth Hall. ... Location within the British Isles Polesworth is a large village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. ... Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, née Harington (1581–1627) was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. ... Esquire (abbreviated Esq. ... Lt. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Literary career

In 1591 he produced his first book, The Harmony of the Church, a volume of spiritual poems, dedicated to Lady Devereux. It is notable for a version of the Song of Solomon, executed with considerable richness of expression. However, with the exception of forty copies, seized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the whole edition was destroyed by public order. Nevertheless, Drayton published a vast amount within the next few years. The Song of Solomon or Song of Songs (Hebrew title שיר השירים, Shir ha-Shirim) is a book of the Hebrew Bible—Tanakh or Old Testament—one of the five megillot. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

In 1593 appeared Idea: The Shepherd's Garland, a collection of nine pastorals, in which he celebrated his own love-sorrows under the poetic name of Rowland. The basic idea was expanded in a cycle of sixty-four sonnets, published in 1594, under the title of Idea's Mirror, by which we learn that the lady lived by the river Ankor in Warwickshire. It appears that he failed to win his "Idea," and lived and died a bachelor. In 1593 appeared the first of Drayton's historical poems, The Legend of Piers Gaveston, and the next year saw the publication of Matilda, an epic poem in rhyme royal. It was about this time, too, that he brought out Endimion and Phoebe, a volume which he never republished, but which contains some interesting autobiographical matter, and acknowledgments of literary help from Thomas Lodge, if not from Edmund Spenser and Samuel Daniel also. In his Fig for Momus, Lodge reciprocated these friendly courtesies. Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch, one of the best-known of the early Italian sonnet writers For the Saab automobile, see Saab Sonett, for the Japanese communications company see So-net. ... A detailed map Stratford-upon-Avon Kenilworth Castle Warwickshire (pronounced //, //, or //) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in central England. ... Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall (c. ... In mathematics, see epic morphism. ... Rhyme royal is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced into English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. ... Thomas Lodge (c. ... Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (c. ... Samuel Daniel (1562 – October 14, 1619) was an English poet and historian. ... For the Scottish artist and singer see Momus (artist) Momus or Momos (μῶμος), in Greek mythology the god of satire, mockery, writers, poets, a spirit of evil-spirited blame and unfair criticism. ...

In 1596 Drayton published his long and important poem Mortimeriados, which deals with the Wars of the Roses and is a very serious production in ottava rima. He later enlarged and modified this poem, and republished it in 1603 under the title of The Barons' Wars. In 1596 also appeared another historical poem, The Legend of Robert, Duke of Normandy, with which Piers Gaveston was reprinted. In 1597 appeared England's Heroical Epistles, a series of historical studies, in imitation of those of Ovid. These last poems, written in the heroic couplet, contain some of the finest passages in Drayton's writings. Lancaster York For other uses see Wars of the Roses (disambiguation) The Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1485) were a series of civil wars fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. ... Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Roman origin. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC – Tomis, now Constanţa AD 17), a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, particularly for epic and narrative poetry. ...

By 1597, the poet was resting on his laurels. It seems that he was much favoured at the court of Elizabeth, and he hoped that it would be the same with her successor. But when, in 1603, he addressed a poem of compliment to James I, on his accession, it was ridiculed, and his services rudely rejected. His bitterness found expression in a satire, The Owl (1604), but he had no talent in this kind of composition. Not much more entertaining was his scriptural narrative of Moses in a Map of his Miracles, a sort of epic in heroics printed the same year. In 1605 Drayton reprinted his most important works, his historical poems and the Idea, in a single volume which ran through eight editions during his lifetime. He also collected his smaller pieces, hitherto unedited, in a volume undated, but probably published in 1605, under the title of Poems Lyric and Pastoral; these consisted of odes, eclogues, and a fantastic satire called The Man in the Moon. Some of the odes are extremely spirited. In this volume he printed for the first time the famous Ballad of Agincourt. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... James VI and I (James Stuart) (June 19, 1566 – March 27, 1625) was King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... Ode (Classical Greek: ) is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. ... An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. ... Agincourt can refer to: an alternative name for Azincourt, a commune of the Pas-de-Calais département in northern France, and the site of the Battle of Agincourt Agincourt, Meurthe-et-Moselle a commune of the Meurthe_et_Moselle département in northeastern France Agincourt, Ontario The Battle of Agincourt, October...

He had adopted as early as 1598 the extraordinary resolution of celebrating all the points of topographical or antiquarian interest in the island of Great Britain, and on this laborious work he was engaged for many years. At last, in 1613, the first part of this vast work was published under the title of Poly-Olbion, eighteen books being produced, to which the learned Selden supplied notes. The success of this great work, which has since become so famous, was very small at first, and not until 1622 did Drayton succeed in finding a publisher willing to undertake the risk of bringing out twelve more books in a second part. This completed the survey of England, and the poet, who had hoped "to crown Scotland with flowers," and arrive at last at the Orcades, never crossed the Tweed. The Poly-Olbion is a topographical poem describing England and Wales. ... John Selden (December 16, 1584 - November 30, 1654) was an English jurist, legal antiquary and oriental scholar. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km... Orkney (sometimes known as the Orkney Islands) is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles north of the coast of Caithness. ... There are other rivers with this name: see Tweed River The River Tweed at Abbotsford, near Melrose The River Tweed at Coldstream The River Tweed (156 kilometres or 97 miles long) flows primarily through the Borders region of Scotland. ...

In 1627 he published another of his miscellaneous volumes, and this contains some of his most characteristic and exquisite writing. It consists of the following pieces: The Battle of Agincourt, an historical poem in ottava rima (not to be confused with his ballad on the same subject), and The Miseries of Queen Margaret, written in the same verse and manner; Nimphidia, the Court of Faery, a most joyous and graceful little epic of fairyland; The Quest of Cinthia and The Shepherd's Sirena, two lyrical pastorals; and finally The Moon Calf, a sort of satire. Of these Nimphidia is perhaps the best thing Drayton ever wrote, except his famous ballad on the battle of Agincourt; it is quite unique of its kind and full of rare fantastic fancy. Margaret of Anjou (March 23, 1429 - August 25, 1482) was the Queen consort of Henry VI of England from 1445 to 1471, and a major proponent in the Wars of the Roses. ... Combatants Kingdom of England Kingdom of France Commanders Henry V of England Charles dAlbret Strength About 6,000 (but see Modern re-assessment). 4/5 longbowmen, 1/5 dismounted men-at-arms. ...

The last of Drayton's voluminous publications was The Muses' Elizium in 1630. He died in London, was buried in Westminster Abbey, and had a monument placed over him by the Countess of Dorset, with memorial lines attributed to Ben Jonson. The Abbeys western façade The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west... Benjamin Jonson (circa June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ...

Like other poets of his era, Drayton was active in writing for the theater; but unlike Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, or Samuel Daniel, he invested little of his art in the genre. For a period of only five years, from 1597 to 1602, Drayton was a member of the stable of playwrights who supplied material for the theatrical syndicate of Philip Henslowe. Henslowe's Diary links Drayton's name with 23 plays from that period, and shows that Drayton almost always worked in collaboration with other Henslowe regulars, like Thomas Dekker, Anthony Munday, and Henry Chettle, among others.^[1] Of these 23 plays, only one has survived, that being Part 1 of Sir John Oldcastle, which Drayton composed in collaboration with Munday, Robert Wilson, and Richard Hathwaye. The text of Oldcastle shows no clear signs of Drayton's hand; traits of style consistent through the entire corpus of his poetry (the rich vocabulary of plant names, star names, and other unusual words; the frequent use of original contractional forms, sometimes with double apostrophes, like "th'adult'rers" or "pois'ned'st") are wholly absent from the text, suggesting that his contribution to the collaborative effort was not substantial. William Longsword, the one play that Henslowe's Diary suggests was a solo Drayton effort, was never completed. Philip Henslowe (c 1550 - January 6, 1616) was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur. ... Thomas Dekker, (c. ... Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560?–August 10, 1633), was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. ... Henry Chettle (1564?-1607?) was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era. ... Sir John Oldcastle is an Elizabethan play about John Oldcastle, a controversial 14th-15th century rebel and Lollard who was seen by some of Shakespeares contemporaries as a proto-Protestant martyr. ... Robert Wilson (dramatist) was an Elizabethan dramatist. ... Richard Hathwaye (fl. ...

(Drayton may have preferred the role of impressario to that of playwright; he was one of the lessees of the Whitefriars Theatre when it was started in 1608. Around 1606, Drayton was also part of a syndicate that chartered a company of child actors, The Children of the King's Revels. These may or may not have been the Children of Paul's under a new name, since the latter group appears to have gone out of existence at about this time. The venture was not a success, dissolving in litigation in 1609.) The Whitefriars Theatre was a theatre in Jacobean London, in existence from 1608 to 1629. ... Edward Kynaston, one of the last boy players (1889 engraving of a contemporary portrait) Boy player is a common term for the adolescent males employed by English Renaissance acting companies. ...

Friendships

Drayton was a friend of some of the most famous men of the age. He corresponded familiarly with Drummond; Ben Jonson, William Browne, George Wither and others were among his friends. There is a tradition that he was a friend of Shakespeare, supported by a statement of John Ward, once vicar of Stratford-on-Avon, that "Shakespear, Drayton and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and it seems, drank too hard, for Shakespear died of a feavour there contracted." In one of his poems, an elegy or epistle to Mr Henry Reynolds, he has left some valuable criticisms on poets whom he had known. That he was a restless and discontented, as well as a worthy, man may be gathered from his own admissions. Drayton was also a contemporary of John Donne, though it is not known if Drayton and Donne ever knew each other. William Browne (1590?‑1645?) was an English poet, born at Tavistock, educated at Oxford, after which he entered the Inner Temple. ... George Wither (June 11, 1588 – May 2, 1667) was an English poet and satirist. ... For the Welsh courtier and diplomat, see Sir John Donne. ...

Critical legacy

The works of Drayton are bulky, and, in spite of the high place that he holds in critical esteem, it cannot be pretended that he is much read. For this, according to literary scholars, his ponderous style is much to blame. The Poly-Olbion, the most famous but far from the most successful of his writings, is difficult and barren in the extreme. It was, he tells us, a "Herculean toil" to him to compose it, and we are conscious of the effort. The metre in which it is composed, a couplet of alexandrines, like the French classical measure, is wholly unsuited to the English language, and becomes excessively wearisome to the reader, who forgets the learning and ingenuity of the poet in labouring through the harsh and overgrown lines. His historical poems, which he was constantly rewriting and improving, are believed by many to be much more interesting, and often rise to a true poetic eloquence. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Heracles. ... An alexandrine is a line of poetic meter. ...

Most literary scholars believe that his pastorals are brilliant, but overladen with colour and sweet to insipidity. He is, with the one magnificent exception of "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part," which was first printed in 1619, an indifferent sonneteer. The poet with whom it is most natural to compare him is Daniel; he is more rough and vigorous, more varied and more daring than the latter, but Daniel surpasses him in grace, delicacy and judgment. In their elegies and epistles, however, the two writers frequently resemble each other. Drayton, however, approaches the very first poets of the Elizabethan era in his charming Nimphidia, a poem which inspired Robert Herrick with his sweet fairy fancies and stands alone of its kind in English literature; while some of his odes and lyrics are inspired by noble feeling and virile imagination. Robert Herrick (baptized August 24, 1591 - October 1674) was a 17th century English poet. ...

Editions

In 1748 a folio edition of Drayton's complete works was published under the editorial supervision of William Oldys, and again in 1753 there appeared an issue in four volumes. But these were very unintelligently and inaccurately prepared. William Oldys (July 14, 1696 - April 15, 1761), was an English antiquarian and bibliographer. ...

A complete edition of Drayton's works with variant readings was projected by Richard Hooper in 1876, but was never carried to a conclusion; a volume of selections, edited by A. H. Bullen, appeared in 1883. See especially Oliver Elton, Michael Drayton (1906). Arthur Henry Bullen, often known as A. H. Bullen, (9 February 1857, London - 29 February 1920, Stratford-on-Avon) was an English editor and publisher, and a specialist in 16th and 17th century literature. ... Oliver Elton (3 June 1861 - 4 June 1945) was an English literary scholar whose extensive publications include A Survey of English Literature (1730 - 1880) in six volumes, criticism and biography of a very wide range of authors, and translations from various languages including Icelandic and Russian. ...

A complete five volume edition of Drayton's work was published by Oxford in 1961, edited by J. William Hebel. That and a two volume edition of Drayton's poems published at Harvard in 1953, edited by John Buxton, are the only 20th century editions of his poems recorded by the Library of Congress. Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... The Great Hall interior. ...

Note

1. ^ E.K. Chambers, The Elizabethan Stage, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; pp. 306-8.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• F. E. Halliday, A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964, Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.

Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Works by Michael Drayton at Project Gutenberg