Short answers, pulled from the story.
Michael Drayton (1563-1631) was an English poet who rose to prominence during the Elizabethan era and continued writing through the reigns of James I and Charles I. He is best known for his historical poetry, his sonnet cycle Ideas Mirrour, the vast geographical poem Poly-Olbion, and for being the first English-language author to bring the term "ode" to popular use.
Michael Drayton was born in early 1563 in Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. By 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham, Nottinghamshire, and later received his education under Sir Henry Goodere. Scholars note that his social status was considered inferior to that of William Shakespeare and well below that of Edmund Spenser or Samuel Daniel.
The Harmony of the Church, published in 1590, was destroyed by public order, with only forty copies spared when they were seized by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The book was a collection of spiritual poems dedicated to Lady Devereux and included a version of the Song of Solomon.
Poly-Olbion is a vast geographical poem celebrating the topographical and antiquarian points of interest across Great Britain, which Drayton began planning as early as 1598. The first part, eighteen books with notes by John Selden, was published in 1613 to a poor reception, and Drayton could not find a publisher for the second twelve books until 1622. He had hoped to extend the work through Scotland and reach the Orcades, but he never crossed the Tweed.
Henslowe's Diary links Drayton's name to 23 plays written during his five years with Henslowe's theatrical syndicate from 1597 to 1602. Of those 23 plays, only one has survived: Part 1 of Sir John Oldcastle, written in collaboration with Anthony Munday, Robert Wilson, and Richard Hathwaye.
Michael Drayton, who died on the 23rd of December 1631 in London, was buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. The Countess of Dorset placed a monument over him, with memorial lines attributed to Ben Jonson; the memorial was sculpted by Edward Marshall.