Seccombe and Arber, comps. Elizabethan Sonnets. 1904.
Idea
Introductory Into these Loves, who but for Passion looks
Michael Drayton (1563–1631)
IDEA. IN SIXTY-THREE SONNETS. BY MICHAEL DRAYTON, ESQUIRE.
LONDON, Printed for JOHN SMETHWICK. 1619.
Drayton’s Idea Sonnets appeared in four distinct editions, the contents of each of which varied considerably, before the fifth and final edition of 1619, which is printed here, and contains in all sixty-four sonnets. Eighteen of the sonnets in the present collection appeared originally in the first edition of 1594, twenty-one in the second edition of 1599, eight in the third edition of 1602 (reprinted in 1603), seven in the edition of 1605 (reprinted three times, in 1608, 1610, and 1613). Ten sonnets only were printed in the 1619 edition for the first time. The edition in which each sonnet first saw the light is duly indicated in this reprint.
To the Reader of these Sonnets.
[First printed in 1599 (No. 2), and in all later editions.]
