Delphi Complete Works of William Drummond (Illustrated)

Book excerpt: William Drummond of Hawthornden was the first notable poet in Scotland to write in English, as well as the first to use the canzone, a medieval Italian metrical form in English verse. He was a cultured and detached man of means, who became close friends with the poet Michael Drayton and the playwright Ben Jonson. He also wrote one of the most celebrated prose essays of the seventeenth century, ‘A Cypresse Grove’, serving as a compelling meditation on death and mutability. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. For the first time in digital publishing, this eBook presents Drummond’s complete works, with illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Drummond’s life and works * Concise introduction to Drummond’s life and poetry * Excellent formatting of the poems * Poem text based on W. M. C. Ward’s 1894 edition * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Rare poems digitised for the first time * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Rare prose works, including W. M. C. Ward’s text of ‘A Cypresse Grove’ * Features a bonus biography — discover Drummond’s literary life * Ordering of texts into chronological order and genres CONTENTS: The Life and Poetry of William Drummond of Hawthornden Brief Introduction: William Drummond The Poems of William Drummond The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Prose A Cypresse Grove (1630) Irene (1638) A Letter on the True Nature of Poetry A Speech on Toleration (1654) History of Scotland during the Reigns of the Five Jameses (1654) Memorials of State (1654) The Biography William Drummond (1900) by Sidney Lee