Dowland composed a number of AYREs, predomi-
nantly for voice and lute, and was one of the instigators
of the genre, and composed MADRIGALs as well. He was
also the fi rst person to earn a bachelor’s degree in
music from Oxford and Cambridge.
See also “COME AWAY, COME SWEET LOVE.”
FURTHER READING
Fischlin, Daniel T. “ ‘The Highest Key of Passion’: Inex-
pressibility and Metaphors of Self in John Dowland’s the
First Booke of Songs or Ayres.” Journal of the Lute Society of
America 20 & 21 (1987): 46–86.
Pilkington, Michael. Campion, Dowland, and the Lutenist
Songwriters. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989.
DOWRICHE, ANNE EDGECUMBE (1550–
1638) Anne Dowriche was raised in Cornwall but
moved to Exeter after her marriage. She was a staunch
Protestant who fervently believed in a multinational
Catholic conspiracy. Little else is known about her life,
although her family was quite prominent. Her grandfa-
ther, Sir Richard Edgecumbe, was a country gentleman.
Her brother, Pearse Edgecumbe, to whom she addressed
the preface of her poem The FRENCH HISTORY, served as a
member of Parliament for six terms. Her fi rst husband,
the Rev. Hugh Dowriche, associated with those active
in arguing for Puritan-like reforms to the English
Church during the reign of Queen ELIZABETH I.
Dowriche wrote in an age that severely restricted
women’s participation in public debate. Her only other
surviving published works are some verses included
with Hugh Dowriche’s The Jaylors Conversion (1596),
titled “Verses written by a gentlewoman upon The Jay-
lors Conversion,” and signed by “AD.” These exhort the
faithful to endure suffering patiently, since “The rod
that doth correct our life, / And sinfull waies reproue, /
Is said to be a certain signe, / Of Gods eternal loue.”
See also TUDOR WOMEN WRITERS.
FURTHER READING
Beilin, Elaine. “ ‘Some Freely Spake Their Mind’: Resistance
in Anne Dowriche’s French Historie.” In Women Writing
and the Reproduction of Culture in Tudor and Stuart Britain,
edited by Mary Burke, Jane Donawerth, Linda Dove, and
Karen Nelson, 119–140. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse Univer-
sity Press, 2000.
Lysbeth Em Benkert
DRAYTON, MICHAEL (1563–1631) Michael
Drayton was born in Hartshill, England, to Christo-
pher and Margerie Drayton. During his youth, he
became page to Sir Henry Goodeere, who later became
his patron and funded Drayton’s education. The close
association with Goodeere and his family had great
infl uence on Drayton, and many believe Goodeere’s
daughter, Anne, became the inspiration for his SONNET
SEQUENCEs.
Drayton published his poetry from 1591 to 1630.
He is often remembered for revising his previous works
and publishing them under a different name. His fi rst
published work was Harmonie of the Church (1591).
Drayton’s later works were infl uenced by EDMUND
SPENSER, especially in his PASTORAL series IDEA THE SHEP-
HEARDS GARLAND. In 1594, he published IDEAS MIRROUR,
sometimes referred to as Amours. England’s Heroical
Epistles (1597) has been considered one of Drayton’s
fi nest works. He also wrote one play, The First Part of
Sir John Oldcastle. His other works include: “Ode to the
Virginian Voyage”; Nymphidia, the Court of the Fairy;
and The Muses’ Elizium.
Michael Drayton is critically admired for his pasto-
rals and odes, and his literary works greatly infl uenced
his contemporaries. Drayton died on December 2,
1631, and is buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster
Abbey.
See also QUATORZAIN.
FURTHER READING
Elton, Oliver M.A. Michael Drayton: A Critical Study. New
York: Russel & Russel, 1966.
Dianne WalbeckDREAM OF THE ROOD, THE ANONYMOUS
(10th century) The Dream of the Rood, 156 lines
written in the West Saxon dialect of Old English, is
preserved on fol. 104v–106r of the Vercelli Book, a late
10th-century codex. No precise date for the poem is
possible. Notably, excerpts of the poem are preserved
in two additional locations. Several lines (ll. 39–42,
44–49, 56–59, 62–64) are engraved in runes on the
sides of a large ornamental cross constructed ca. 730–
50 and housed at Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
(the RUTHWELL CROSS). As well, an inscription echoingDREAM OF THE ROOD, THE 149