Triumphal Numbers and the "Stigma of Print": Michael Drayton's Encomium to Shakespeare in Agincourt

Stritmatter explores the application of Jacobean aesthetic doctrines associated with the idea of "triumphal forms" to Michael Drayton's 202-line friendship poem, originally printed in Drayton's 1627 The Battaile of Agincourt under the title To my most dearely-loued friendHENERY R...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Oxfordian (Portland, Or.) Or.), 2022-10, Vol.24, p.73-110
Main Author: Stritmatter, Roger A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australian literature
Authorship
British & Irish literature
Criticism and interpretation
Drama
Dramatists
Drayton, Michael
Drayton, Michael (1563-1631)
English literature
Influence
Laudatory poetry
Poetry
Reynolds, Henry (fl 1627-1632)
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
Shakespeare, William (English playwright)
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Summary:Stritmatter explores the application of Jacobean aesthetic doctrines associated with the idea of "triumphal forms" to Michael Drayton's 202-line friendship poem, originally printed in Drayton's 1627 The Battaile of Agincourt under the title To my most dearely-loued friendHENERY REYNOLDS Esquire, of Poets & Poesie. Judging by the evidence of this poem as well as other surviving testimony, the shared passions of Drayton and Reynolds included not only literature and good cheer, good food and drink by the fire, but--much more specifically, and perhaps, unexpectedly--the role of "number" and its power to convey secrets across time and space. Reynolds was, in fact, a leading advocate for using number to express secret knowledge. There is no better way to pursue an inquest into the Shakespeare question than a candid consideration of the vexed relationship between Shakespeare and his fellow Warwickshire poet and playwright Michael Drayton (1563-1631).
ISSN:1521-3641