The ''Poly-Olbion'' is a topographical poem describing

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Written by Michael Drayton (1563–1631) and published in 1612, it was reprinted with a second part in 1622. Drayton had been working on the project since at least 1598.

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The ''Poly-Olbion'' is divided into thirty songs, written in alexandrine couplets, consisting in total of almost 15,000 lines of verse. Drayton intended to compose a further part to cover

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, but no part of this work is known to have survived. Each song describes between one and three counties, describing their topography,

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

s and histories. Copies were illustrated with maps of each county, drawn by William Hole, whereon places were depicted anthropomorphically. The first book was accompanied by historical and philological summaries written by

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned m ...

. Because of its length and its author's conflicting goals the ''Poly-Olbion'' was almost never read as a whole, but is an important source for the period nevertheless. Drayton strained to combine correct scientific information about Britain (mostly contained in Selden's commentary) with his desire to provide as many memorial anchors to the elusive ancient Celtic Britons, Druids, Bards, and

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

as possible.Richard Utz, "Hic iacet Arthurus? Situating the Medieval King in Renaissance Memory," ''Studies in Medievalism'' 15 (2006), 26-40; "'There Are Places We Remember': Situating the Medieval Past in Postmedieval Cultural Memories," in ''Transfiguration'' 6.2 (2004), 89-108.

Bibliography

*William H. Moore,
Poly-Olbion Summary
' *Oliver Elton, ''Michael Drayton; a Critical Study, with a Bibliography''

References

{{reflist

External links

''Poly-Olbion''
in ''The Complete Works of Michael Drayton'', vol. 3 (London, 1876)
The Children's Poly-Olbion: A Heritage Lottery funded arts and education project introducing Drayton to children across the UK and commissioning new art work based on Poly-OlbionExeter University: Poly-Olbion Project
1612 poems 1622 poems British poems

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Bibliography

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External links