Michael Drayton, Ideas Mirrour and Idea

Miles Layram (University of York)
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Michael Drayton (1563-1631) was one of the best of the English Renaissance poets. The first version of his sonnet sequence, comprising fifty-one lyrics, was published in 1594, at the height of the sonnet vogue, and was entitled

Ideas Mirrour

, “Idea” being the name of the fictional lady (possibly based on Anne Goodere) with whom the speaker-persona is in love. Revised editions, under the title

Idea

, then appeared in 1599, 1600, 1605, and finally, twenty-five years after its inception, in 1619. Each of these texts involved not only the rewriting (and re-ordering) of poems which had been included in previous editions, but also the addition of entirely new ones and the removal of some of the preceding ones. The most drastic editing work took place between the 1594 and 1599 editions, when…

2207 words

Citation: Layram, Miles . "Ideas Mirrour and Idea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 October 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35674, accessed 19 March 2024.]

35674 Ideas Mirrour and Idea 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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