Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles: Idea, Fidesa and Chloris by Drayton, Griffin, and Smith

Description

Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles: Idea, Fidesa, and Chloris is a compilation of sonnet cycles edited by Martha Foote Crow, likely created in the late 19th century. The collection features works by three poets: Michael Drayton, Bartholomew Griffin, and William Smith, highlighting the themes of love and longing characteristic of the Elizabethan era. Each cycle presents a unique exploration of passion and desire, with Drayton’s Idea reflecting his unrequited love, Griffin’s Fidesa focusing on the tension between love and cruelty, and Smith’s Chloris portraying the sorrowful devotion of an enamored shepherd. The opening of the book introduces the individual cycles, beginning with Idea, where Michael Drayton recounts his heart-wrenching devotion to a woman he calls Idea, evolving over years of silent longing. It delves into his artistic journey, emphasizing the progression of his emotions and poetic craft through various iterations of his sonnets. Following this, the introduction to Fidesa presents Bartholomew Griffin, who reflects on the complexities of love through a lens of playful yet poignant longing, while Chloris reveals William Smith’s perspective on heartache as a shepherd is left mourning unreciprocated affection. Each work embodies the struggles of love that resonate deeply across time. (This is an automatically generated summary.)