The Poetry of Michael Drayton: Collection of poems from renowned Elizabethan poet
Written by Michael Drayton
Narrated by Richard Mitchley, Ghizela Rowe and Gideon Wagner
()
About this audiobook
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.
This volume comes to you from Portable Poetry, a specialized imprint from Deadtree Publishing. Our range is large and growing and covers single poets, themes, and many compilations.
More audiobooks from Michael Drayton
The Power of Poetry - Poems To Mend A Broken Heart: Beautiful poems that touch the heart for those suffering from heartbreak Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Silver Poets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifty Shades of the British Countryside: 50 of the best poems about the British countryside Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic ― Ballads: 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic ― War: 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Rhyme A Dozen - Friendship: 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Poetry of Michael Drayton
Related audiobooks
The Poetry of John Dryden: England's first Poet Laureate that turned literature in Restoration England into "the Age Of Dryden" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of Robert Southey: Poems from the Bristol born Oxford graduate and Poet Laureate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoderick Random (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of Edmund Spenser Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mudfog and Other Sketches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNarrative Verse Volume 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poetry of Herman Merville Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story Of Shakespeare's Cymbeline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert Browning 200th Anniversary Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictorian Poetry Volume 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swords of Kings: Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Monk and the Hangman's Daughter Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCaptain Paul (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWessex Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove of Life and Other Stories (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Treasury of Victorian Poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFour Short Stories by Maurice Baring Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwelfth Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tono-Bungay - Book the First: The Days Before Tono-Bungay Was Invented (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHamlet: Full Cast Drama Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZandernatis: Destination: Where Legends Were Born, Book 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOliver Wendell Holmes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cavalier Poets Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry Hour - Volume 18 Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5
Poetry For You
Milk and Honey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spirits in Bondage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Other Eden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilgamesh: A New English Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf: Translated by Seamus Heaney Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gift of Rumi: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Promises of Gold Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Inferno of Dante Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven and Other Poems: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Temple Folk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Metamorphoses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poems of T.S. Eliot Read by Jeremy Irons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Citizen: An American Lyric Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Home Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Imagination: Black Voices on Black Futures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leaves of Grass: 1855 Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strength In Our Scars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Poetry of Michael Drayton
0 ratings0 reviews