h and 17th centuries), the English name generally
employed for a room used in a dwelling-house for the reception of
company. It originated in the setting apart of such a room, as the more
private and exclusive preserve of the ladies of the household, to which
they withdrew from the dining-room. The term "drawing-room" is also used
in a special sense of the formal receptions or "courts" held by the
British sovereign or his representative, at which ladies are presented,
as distinguished from a "levee," at which men are presented.

DRAYTON, MICHAEL (1563-1631), English poet, was born at Hartshill, near
Atherstone, in Warwickshire in 1563. Even in childhood it was his great
ambition to excel in writing verses. At the age of ten he was sent as
page into some great family, and a little later he is supposed to have
studied for some time at Oxford. Sir Henry Goodere of Powlesworth became
his patron, and introduced him to the countess of Bedford, and for
several years he was esquire to Sir Walter Aston. How the early part of
his life was spent, however, we possess no means of ascertaining. It has
been surmised that he served in the army abroad. In 1590 he seems to
have come up to London, and to have settled there.

In 1591 he produced his first book, _The Harmony of the Church_, a
volume of spiritual poems, dedicated to Lady Devereux. The best piece in
this is a version of the Song of Solomon, executed with considerable
richness of expression. A singular and now incomprehensible fate befell
the book; with the exception of forty copies, seized by the archbishop
of Canterbury, the whole edition was destroyed by public order. It is
probable that he had come up to town laden with poetic writings, for he
published a vast amount within the next few years. In 1593 appeared
_Idea: The Shepherd's Garland_, a collection of nine pastorals, in which
he celebrated his own love-sorrows under the poetic name of Rowland. The
circumstances of this passion appear more distinctly in the cycle of 64
sonnets, published in 1594, under the title of _Idea's Mirror_, by which
we learn that the lady lived by the river Ankor in Warwickshire. It
appears that he failed to win his "Idea," and lived and died a bachelor.
In 1593 appeared the first of Drayton's historical poems, _The Legend of
Piers Gaveston_, and the next year saw the publication of _Matilda_, an
epical poem in rhyme royal. It was about this time, too, that he brought
out _Endimion and P