Michael Drayton (1563 – December 23, 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era
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Biography
Early life
He was born at Hartshill, near Atherstone, Warwickshire, England. Hartshill is a small village in the borough of North Warwickshire, England. Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. The town is located near the northernmost tip of Warwickshire close to the border with Staffordshire Geography Warwickshire is bounded to the northwest by the West Midlands Metropolitan county and Staffordshire, by Leicestershire to England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland 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. A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant. The medieval page In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a Knight The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the Sir Henry Goodere of Powlesworth became his patron, and introduced him to Lady Bedford. Sir Henry Goodere (1534–1595 was the son of Francis Goodere of Polesworth Hall. Polesworth is a large Village and Civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Lucy Russell Countess of Bedford née Harington (1581&ndash1627 was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras 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. Esquire (abbreviated Esq) is a term of British origin originally used to denote social status Lt Colonel Walter Aston (c 1606 - April 3, 1656) was a Burgess in Virginia from 1629 to 1630 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 and had two children. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Nevertheless, Drayton published a vast amount within the next few years.
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. The sonnet is one of the poetic forms that can be found in Lyric poetry from Europe. Geography Warwickshire is bounded to the northwest by the West Midlands Metropolitan county and Staffordshire, by Leicestershire to 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. Piers Gaveston 1st Earl of Cornwall (c 1284 &ndash 19 June, 1312) was the Favourite, and possibly lover of King Edward II of England. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation Rime Royal (or Rhyme royal) is a rhyming Stanza form that was introduced into English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. 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. Thomas Lodge (c 1558 &ndash 1625 was an English Dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods Edmund Spenser (c 1552 &ndash 13 January, 1599) was an important English Poet and Poet Laureate best known for The Samuel Daniel (1562 &ndash October 14, 1619) was an English poet and historian. In his Fig for Momus, Lodge reciprocated these friendly courtesies. For the Scottish artist and singer see Momus (artist Momus or Momos (μῶμος in Greek
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. The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485 were a series of dynastic Civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster and York For etymology and similar terms see Octave. Ottava rima is a rhyming Stanza form of Italian origin 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. Robert the Magnificent ( June 22, 1000 – 3 July 1035) also called Robert the Devil or Robert I, was the Duke of In 1597 appeared England's Heroical Epistles, a series of historical studies, in imitation of those of Ovid. Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including These last poems, written in the heroic couplet, contain some of the finest passages in Drayton's writings. A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English Poetry, commonly used for epic and Narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a
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. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James 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. Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ 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. Ode (from the Ancient Greek) is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. An eclogue is a Poem in a classical style on a Pastoral subject Some of the odes are extremely spirited. In this volume he printed for the first time the famous Ballad of Agincourt.
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. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands 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 Poly-Olbion is a Topographical poem describing England and Wales. John Selden ( December 16, 1584 &ndash November 30, 1654) was an English Jurist, scholar of England's ancient laws 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. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Orkney (also known as the Orkney Islands or incorrectly the Orkneys) is an Archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km north There are other rivers with this name see Tweed River The River Tweed ( Uisge Thuaidh in Gaelic (156 kilometres or long flows primarily through the
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. Margaret of Anjou ( Marguerite d'Anjou, 23 March 1430 &ndash 25 August 1482) was the Queen consort of Henry VI of England 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. The Battle of Agincourt was an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War.
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 Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church Benjamin Jonson ( c 11 June 1572 &ndash 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance Dramatist
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. Thomas Dekker is the name of Thomas Dekker (writer (1572&ndash1632 Elizabethan poet and dramatist Thomas Dekker (actor (born 1987 Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560? &ndash August 10, 1633) was an English Dramatist and miscellaneous writer Henry Chettle (c 1564 &ndash c 1607 was an English Dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era. [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. Sir John Oldcastle is an Elizabethan play about John Oldcastle, a controversial 14th-15th century rebel and Lollard who was seen by some of Robert Wilson may refer to Bob Wilson (US politician (1916–1999 American politician U Richard Hathwaye (fl 1597 - 1603 was an English Dramatist. Little is known about Hathwaye's life 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.
(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. The Whitefriars Theatre was a theatre in Jacobean London, in existence from 1608 to the 1620s &mdash about which only limited and sometimes contradictory information Around 1606, Drayton was also part of a syndicate that chartered a company of child actors, The Children of the King's Revels. Boy player is a common term for the adolescent males employed by Medieval and English Renaissance Playing companies. 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. )
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. William Browne (1590? &ndash 1645? was an English Poet, born at Tavistock Devon and educated at Oxford; subsequently he entered the Inner Temple George Wither ( June 11, 1588 &ndash May 2, 1667) was an English poet and satirist 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. Henry Reynolds (1564-1632 was a Suffolk man schoolmaster English poet and literary critic of the Seventeenth century. 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. John Donne (pronounced like done, dʌn 1572 – 31 March 1631 was a Jacobean poet preacher and a major representative of the Metaphysical poets
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. Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. 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. An alexandrine is a line of poetic meter comprising 12 Syllables Alexandrines are common in the German literature of the Baroque period and 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.
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 &ndashburied 15 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. William Oldys ( July 14, 1696 - April 15, 1761) was an English Antiquarian and bibliographer But these were very unintelligently and inaccurately prepared.
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. Richard Hooper was an Irish Soccer player during the 1900s He played for the amateur Bohemians during his career in Ireland. Arthur Henry Bullen, often known as A H Bullen, ( 9 February 1857, London - 29 February 1920, Stratford-on-Avon See especially Oliver Elton, Michael Drayton (1906). Oliver Elton ( June 3 1861 - June 4 1945) was an English literary scholar whose works include A Survey of English Literature (1730 - 1880
A complete five volume edition of Drayton's work was published by Oxford in 1961, edited by J. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, 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. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress
Note
- ^ E. K. Chambers, The Elizabethan Stage, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; pp. 306-8.
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Michael Drayton", a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
- F. E. Halliday, A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964, Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.
External links
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