Those who believe[8] Drayton to have been a Pope in petty spite,
identify the 'Idea' of his earlier poems with Lucy, Countess of Bedford;
though they are forced to acknowledge as self-evident that the 'Idea' of
his later work is Anne, Lady Rainsford. They then proceed to say that
Drayton, after consistently honouring the Countess in his verse for
twelve years, abruptly transferred his allegiance, not forgetting to
heap foul abuse on his former patroness, out of pique at some temporary
withdrawal of favour. Not only is this directly contrary to all we know
and can infer of Drayton's character, but Mr. Elton has decisively
disproved it by a summary of bibliographical and other evidence. Into
the question it is here unnecessary to enter, and it has been mentioned
only because it alone, of the many Drayton-controversies, has cast any
slur on the poet's reputation.

In 1593, Drayton published _Idea, the Shepherds Garland_, in nine
Eclogues; in 1606 he added a tenth, the best of all, to the new edition,
and rearranged the order, so that the new eclogue became the ninth. In
these Pastorals, while following the _Shepherds Calendar_ in many ways,
he already displays something of the sturdy independence which
characterized him through life. He abandons Spenser's quasi-rustic
dialect, and, while keeping to most of the pastoral conventions, such as
the singing-match and threnody, he contrives to introduce something of a
more natural and homely strain. He keeps the political allusions,
notably in the Eclogue containing the song in praise of _Beta_, who is,
of course, Queen Elizabeth. But an over-bold remark in the last line of
that song was struck out in 1606; and the new eclogue has no political
reference. He is not ashamed to allude directly to Spenser; and indeed
his direct debts are limited to a few scattered phrases, as in the
_Ballad_ of _Dowsabel_. Almost to the end of his literary career,
Drayton mentions Spenser with reverence and praise.[9]

It is in the songs interspersed in the Eclogues that Drayton's best work
at this time is to be found: already his metrical versatility is
discernible; for though he doubtless remembered the many varieties of
metre employed by Spenser in the _Calendar_, his verses already bear a
stamp of their own. The long but impetuous lines, such as 'Trim up her
golden tresses with Apollo's sacred tree', afford a striking contrast to
the archaic romance-metre, derived from _Sir Thopas_ and its fellow