Background
Michael Drayton was born in 1563 in Hartshill, Warwickshire, England, the son of a prosperous Warwickshire tradesman.
(Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill, near Nunea...)
Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. The facts of his early life remain unknown. Drayton first published, in 1590, a volume of spiritual poems; The Harmony of the Church. Ironically the Archbishop of Canterbury seized almost the entire edition and had it destroyed. In 1593 he published Idea: The Shepherd's Garland, 9 pastorals celebrating his own love-sorrows under the poetic name of Rowland. This was later expanded to a 64 sonnet cycle. With the publication of The Legend of Piers Gaveston, Matilda and Mortimeriados, later enlarged and re-published, in 1603, under the title of The Barons' Wars. His career began to gather interest and attention. In 1596, The Legend of Robert, Duke of Normandy, another historical poem was published, followed in 1597 by England's Heroical Epistles, a series of historical studies, in imitation of those of Ovid. Written in the heroic couplet, they contain some of his finest writing. Like other poets of his era, Drayton wrote for the theatre; but unlike Shakespeare, Jonson, or Samuel Daniel, he invested little of his art in the genre. Between 1597 and 1602, Drayton was a member of the stable of playwrights who worked for Philip Henslowe. Henslowe's Diary links Drayton's name with 23 plays from that period, and, for all but one unfinished work, in collaboration with others such as Thomas Dekker, Anthony Munday, and Henry Chettle. Only one play has survived; Part 1 of Sir John Oldcastle, which Drayton wrote with Munday, Robert Wilson, and Richard Hathwaye but little of Drayton can be seen in its pages. By this time, as a poet, Drayton was well received and admired at the Court of Elizabeth 1st. If he hoped to continue that admiration with the accession of James 1st he thought wrong. In 1603, he addressed a poem of compliment to James I, but it was ridiculed, and his services rudely rejected. In 1605 Drayton reprinted his most important works; the historical poems and the Idea. Also published was a fantastic satire called The Man in the Moon and, for the for the first time the famous Ballad of Agincourt. Since 1598 he had worked on Poly-Olbion, a work to celebrate all the points of topographical or antiquarian interest in Great Britain. Eighteen books in total, the first were published in 1614 and the last in 1622. In 1627 he published another of his miscellaneous volumes. In it Drayton printed The Battle of Agincourt (an historical poem but not to be confused with his ballad on the same subject), The Miseries of Queen Margaret, and the acclaimed Nimphidia, the Court of Faery, as well as several other important pieces. Drayton last published in 1630 with The Muses' Elizium. Michael Drayton died in London on December 23rd, 1631. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in Poets' Corner. A monument was placed there with memorial lines attributed to Ben Jonson.
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(Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill, near Nunea...)
Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. The facts of his early life remain unknown. Drayton first published, in 1590, a volume of spiritual poems; The Harmony of the Church. Ironically the Archbishop of Canterbury seized almost the entire edition and had it destroyed. In 1593 he published Idea: The Shepherd's Garland, 9 pastorals celebrating his own love-sorrows under the poetic name of Rowland. This was later expanded to a 64 sonnet cycle. With the publication of The Legend of Piers Gaveston, Matilda and Mortimeriados, later enlarged and re-published, in 1603, under the title of The Barons' Wars. His career began to gather interest and attention. In 1596, The Legend of Robert, Duke of Normandy, another historical poem was published, followed in 1597 by England's Heroical Epistles, a series of historical studies, in imitation of those of Ovid. Written in the heroic couplet, they contain some of his finest writing. Like other poets of his era, Drayton wrote for the theatre; but unlike Shakespeare, Jonson, or Samuel Daniel, he invested little of his art in the genre. Between 1597 and 1602, Drayton was a member of the stable of playwrights who worked for Philip Henslowe. Henslowe's Diary links Drayton's name with 23 plays from that period, and, for all but one unfinished work, in collaboration with others such as Thomas Dekker, Anthony Munday, and Henry Chettle. Only one play has survived; Part 1 of Sir John Oldcastle, which Drayton wrote with Munday, Robert Wilson, and Richard Hathwaye but little of Drayton can be seen in its pages. By this time, as a poet, Drayton was well received and admired at the Court of Elizabeth 1st. If he hoped to continue that admiration with the accession of James 1st he thought wrong. In 1603, he addressed a poem of compliment to James I, but it was ridiculed, and his services rudely rejected. In 1605 Drayton reprinted his most important works; the historical poems and the Idea. Also published was a fantastic satire called The Man in the Moon and, for the for the first time the famous Ballad of Agincourt. Since 1598 he had worked on Poly-Olbion, a work to celebrate all the points of topographical or antiquarian interest in Great Britain. Eighteen books in total, the first were published in 1614 and the last in 1622. In 1627 he published another of his miscellaneous volumes. In it Drayton printed The Battle of Agincourt (an historical poem but not to be confused with his ballad on the same subject), The Miseries of Queen Margaret, and the acclaimed Nimphidia, the Court of Faery, as well as several other important pieces. Drayton last published in 1630 with The Muses' Elizium. Michael Drayton died in London on December 23rd, 1631. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in Poets' Corner. A monument was placed there with memorial lines attributed to Ben Jonson.
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(To you those Noblest of Gentlemen of these Renowned Kingd...)
To you those Noblest of Gentlemen of these Renowned Kingdomes of Great Britaine who in these declining times haue yet in your braue bosomes the sparkes of that sprightly fire of your couragious Ancestors and to this houre retaine the seedes of their magnanimitie and Greatnesse who out of the vertue of your mindes loue and cherish neglected Poesie the delight of Blessed soules and the language of Angels To you are these my Poems dedicated By your truly affectioned Seruant MICHAELL DRAYTON
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(Excerpt from The Barons' Wars: Nymphidia, and Other Poems...)
Excerpt from The Barons' Wars: Nymphidia, and Other Poems Fair Arden, thou my Tempe art alone, And thou, sweet Anker, art my Helicon. Brayton's Anker thus became associated with a poet's life, like Herrick's Dean Burn, or Spenser's Mulla. When celebrating Warwickshire, the middle shire Of England, in his Poly Olbion that shire which we the heart of England well may call - Drayton speaks of it as his native county My native country then, which so brave spirits hast bred, If there be virtue yet remaining in thy earth, Or any good of thine thou breath'dst into my birth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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Michael Drayton was born in 1563 in Hartshill, Warwickshire, England, the son of a prosperous Warwickshire tradesman.
Drayton received a good education as a page in the house of Sir Henry Goodere, but there is no record of his ever having studied at a university.
Drayton's first publication, The Harmony of the Church, a somewhat clumsy paraphrase of the Bible, appeared in 1591, when he was 28. Succeeding publications exemplified a wide variety of genres. Idea, the Shepherd's Garland (1593) was a collection of nine pastoral poems, celebrating ideal beauty, in imitation of Edmund Spenser. Idea's Mirror (1594), a sonnet sequence, also portrayed the poet's beloved under the Platonic name of "Idea. "
By 1593 Drayton had also written his first historical romance in verse, Piers Gaveston. Two heroic poems followed, drawing on incidents in English history: Robert, Duke of Normandy and Mortimeriados, both published in 1596. The latter, which portrayed the evils of civil strife, was considerably revised and republished as The Baron's Wars (1603).
Drayton hailed the accession of King James I with The Majesty of King James (1603) but with surprising lack of tact paid no compliment to the memory of Queen Elizabeth. He turned to the fashionable genre of satirical verse in two rather obscure works, The Owl (1604) and The Man in the Moon (1606). Throughout these years he had also been engaged on his poetical gazetteer of England, Polyolbion, of which the first part was published in 1612 and the second in 1622. His genius was not exhausted by what he called "this strange Herculean toil, " and he published in 1627 another collection which included the titlepiece, The Battle of Agincourt, the verse epistles which he called Elegies, his fairy poem Nimphidia, and much else.
In 1630 appeared his pastoral Muses' Elizium, together with three new divine poems. Much of his last 30 years he spent in London, where he was a member of Ben Jonson's circle. He died in London in 1631 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
(To you those Noblest of Gentlemen of these Renowned Kingd...)
(Excerpt from The Barons' Wars: Nymphidia, and Other Poems...)
(Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill, near Nunea...)
(Michael Drayton was born in 1563 at Hartshill, near Nunea...)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)