MICHAEL DRAYTON 1563-1631 Though some general hints about Drayton's life appear in his writings, almost all that we know of him concerns the making and revision of his poems, at which he worked hard during nearly sixty years. Apparently he came of well-to-do tradespeople, and he says that in his youth he was a page; but nothing is known of his schooling or university training. He was in London in 1591, for his first work, a series of Biblical paraphrases, was published then. In 1593 appeared his Idea, clearly modeled upon Spenser's Shepheardes Calender, and his first historical poem, the legend of Peirs Gaveston. The following year a sonnet sequence, Ideas Mirrour, celebrated his passions for a lady whose praises he sang for years. According to Henslow's Diary, he was writing for the stage from 1597 to 1602, working alone or collaborating with Chettle, Dekker, and others. His Poemes Lyrick and Pastorall, 1606, contains some of his finest productions, the "Ballad of Agincourt" among them. His longest and most famous poem is Poly-Olbion, 1613, a description of all England in verse. Drayton's sonnets are rarely distinguished by poetic elevation. Only in the famous example below did he achieve much success. He borrows ideas and speech from all available sources at home and abroad. Even his sequence title is taken directly from the French model. Yet he inspired many younger men with the ambition to win fame in writing sonnets. For criticism, see O. Elton, Michael Drayton: A Critical Study, 1895 (1905). IDEA LXI Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part Nay I have done, you get no more of me; him over, From death to life thou might'st him yet recover! 1619 1 In the course of the Hundred Years' War the English won three great victories over the French in the face of enormous odds-Crécy in 1346, Poitiers in 1356, and Agincourt in 1415. The last was won by Henry the Fifth, and so well was the glory of it remembered that after nearly two hundred years Drayton could celebrate it in this ballad, which bids fair to stand as the supreme national ballad of England. Breathless from the first word to the last, rude and rhythmic as the tread of an army, it arouses the martial spirit as few things but its imitations can. High among these stand Longfellow's "Skeleton in Armor" and Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" (p. 632), both employing the same meter. Cf. also with Henry V, Acts III and IV, especially the speeches, III, 1, 1-34, and IV, iii, 16-67. 2 who (the French general) 160 Never shall She sustain Loss to redeem me! 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 GEORGE PEELE 1558?-1597? Knowledge of Peele's life is hazy. He may have been born in London; his father, a salter, was also clerk of Christ's Hospital; his son, therefore, was a "free scholar" there. He was a noted poet while at Oxford, where he took his M.A. in 1579. His life was one of social gayety and dissipation. He was a successful playwright, his Arraignment of Paris being acted before Queen Elizabeth by the Chapel Children in 1581; and an actor, being a member of the Lord Admiral's company, then of the Queen's men. He was intimate with Marlowe, Greene, and Nashe. His dainty, melodious lyrics were popular in literary circles. His works consisted of plays: The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First, 1593, Old Wives' Tale, 1595, etc., pageants, and miscellaneous verse. THOMAS LODGE 1558?-1625 Thomas Lodge had a more highly-flavored career than one expects even of an Elizabethan. He was born either in London or Essex; his father, Lord Mayor of London, had a house in each place. His youth was marked by much restlessness and unhappiness. After leaving Oxford he took up the study of law, but soon abandoned it for literature. Next he tried the army, and then, dissatisfied with that, made voyages to the Canaries and South America. On his first return to England, 1590, he resumed literature and wrote his best known prose romance Rosalynde, which is characterized by many "euphuisms,' and contains some beautiful lyrics; it is based on his Canaries voyage. Phillis, a book of forty sonnets, published in 1593, after his second voyage, came between two historical romances: The History of Robert, Second Duke of Normandy, and The Life and Death of William Longbeard. In 1596 Lodge exchanged Protestantism for Roman Catholicism, and took up medicine, practicing to the end of his life as a prosperous London physician. It is as a lyric poet that he best deserves to be remembered. The "sugared sweetness" of his lyrics gives them rank beside the finest in the language. ROSALIND'S MADRIGAL Love in my bosom, like a bee, Now with his wings he plays with me, Within mine eyes he makes his nest, And if I sleep, then percheth he And makes his pillow of my knee Strike I my lute, he tunes the string; Else I with roses every day I'll shut my eyes to keep you in; I'll count your power not worth a pin; If he gainsay me? 2 See introd., p. 224 9 18 27 The life of Southwell, illustrative of the religous conflict that permeated the Elizabethan era, was tragic yet ideal, since his lifelong desire for martyrdom was gratified. He was born in Norfolk, came early under the influence of the Jesuits, and went to Douay, then to Paris to study. Determined to join the Society of Jesus, he made his way to Rome after long probation, and was ordained priest in 1584. Next he was sent on a mission to England, where it was treason to be a Catholic priest. After six years of living in disguise, proselytizing and writing religious tracts, he was caught, tortured, imprisoned for over two years, and executed as a traitor at Tyburn. His poems, written mostly in prison, and published after his death, were popular, and imitations soon abounded. Saint Peter's Complaint, his longest poem, 1595, shows the influence of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis; of "The Burning Babe," Ben Jonson said that "so he had written that piece of his, 'The Burning Babe,' he would have been content to destroy many of his." Southwell was a forerunner of the mystical religious poets of the following age-Donne, Herbert, and others. His aim as poet was to prove that virtue or piety was as fit a subject for a poet's pen as the vain, worldly, or sensual topics then in vogue. My faultless breast the furnace is, And Mercy blows the coals; For which, as now on fire I am To wash them in my blood." CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE 2 1564-1593 "That smooth song which was made by Kit Marlowe, now at least fifty years ago; and an answer to it which was made by Sir Walter Raleigh in his younger days. They were oldfashioned poetry, but choicely good."-Isaac Walton. THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE And we will sit upon the rocks, And I will make thee beds of roses, A gown made of the finest wool, A belt of straw and ivy buds With coral clasps and amber studs: The shepherd swains shall dance and sing 16 24 1600 1 am pleased with 2 See p. 166. |