Idea: A Cycle of Sixty-Four Elizabethan Sonnets

Michael Drayton (1563-1631) was a prominent Elizabethan poet and a prolific writer.

Later emulated by Fairfax, Waller and Dryden, Drayton's poems possess an instant, direct, and universal appeal.

In 1593 Drayton published Idea: The Shepherd's Garland, a collection of nine eclogues. Its basic concept was subsequently reworked into a cycle of sixty-four sonnets and published in 1594 under the title of Idea's Mirror.

This edition of Idea aims to make Drayton's sonnets readily available to a wider audience, this time not for arid academic study, but for pure personal pleasure.

Because poetry is meant to be enjoyed