Michael Drayton

Michael Drayton (1563–1631) was an English poet active across the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Born in Warwickshire, he became known for ambitious historical and topographical writing as well as lyric poetry. His major work, *Poly-Olbion* (1612; expanded 1622), is a vast poetic survey of England and Wales, blending legend, history, and geography. Drayton also wrote the sonnet sequence *Idea* (first published 1594), which helped secure his reputation as a skilled practitioner of the English sonnet. He produced narrative poems, pastorals, and occasional verse, and remained a prominent literary figure in London until his death in 1631.