Editing Samuel Daniel (section)

===1591–1593: Patronage of Mary Sidney, ''Delia'', ''Rosamond'', and ''Cleopatra''===
[[File:Mary Sydney Herbert.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Daniel's patron, Mary Sidney, the Countess of Pembroke, by [[Nicholas Hilliard]], c. 1590. Daniel dedicated ''Delia'' and ''The Tragedy of Cleopatra'' to the Countess.]]
Daniel's literary career was effectively launched in late 1591 with the unauthorized inclusion of some of his ''Delia'' sonnets in the posthumous first edition of Sir [[Philip Sidney]]'s ''[[Astrophel and Stella]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Woudhuysen|1996|p=356}}</ref> Sidney's sister, [[Mary Sidney]], the Countess of [[Earl of Pembroke|Pembroke]], objected to the surreptitious publication of her brother's work, and the edition was recalled by the [[Stationers Company]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Woudhuysen|1996|pp=367–369, 380–381}}</ref> In 1592, Daniel published the first authorized edition of his own poetic works, the sonnet cycle ''Delia'', and the historical poem ''The Complaint of Rosamond''. Daniel dedicated ''Delia'' to Mary Sidney and begged her forgiveness for the inclusion of his poems in the unauthorized edition of her brother's work, claiming that he had been "betrayed by the indiscretions of a greedy printer."<ref>{{Harvnb|Woudhuysen|1996|p=377}}</ref> Soon after the publication of ''Delia'' and ''Rosamond'', Daniel was invited to join the Pembroke household, serving the family in some capacity, perhaps as tutor to the twelve-year-old [[William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke|William Herbert]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Stater|2004}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|O'Farrell|2011|p=8}}</ref> He also joined a group of writers encouraged by Mary Sidney that has come to be referred to as the [[Wilton Circle]], a group that included [[Edmund Spenser]], [[Michael Drayton]], [[Sir John Davies]], and [[Abraham Fraunce]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hannay|1990|pp=106–142}}</ref>

Immediately upon the publication of ''Delia'' and ''Rosamond'', Daniel began receiving praise from English poets and scholars, including [[Thomas Nashe]], [[Thomas Churchyard]], and [[Gabriel Harvey]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Grosart|1896|p=viii}}</ref> Edmund Spenser, at the time England's most highly regarded living author, endorsed Daniel in ''[[Colin Clouts Come Home Againe|Colin Clouts Come Home Again]]'' (1595), stating that "there is a new shepherd late upsprung, / The which doth all afore him far surpass" and imploring his fellow poet to "rouse thy feathers quickly, Daniel, / And to what course thou please thyself advance".<ref>{{Harvnb|Grosart|1896|p=vii}}</ref>

From 1592 to 1593, under the patronage of Mary Sidney, Daniel completed ''The Tragedy of Cleopatra'', which was published in 1594. The play was written at the request of Sidney as a sequel to [[Robert Garnier]]'s French tragedy ''Marc-Antoine'', a play she had translated into English as ''The Tragedy of Antony'' and published in 1592.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hannay|1990|pp=118–129}}</ref> Both plays were written in the style of classical [[closet drama]], plays more intended to be read than performed. During the early to mid-twentieth century literary critics postulated that the plays were part of Mary Sidney's effort to reform English theater, returning it to classical standards espoused by her brother, Philip Sidney, in his [[Defence of Poetry|''Defence of Poesy'']]. This view of Mary Sidney's work was advanced by [[T. S. Eliot]] in his 1932 essay, "Apology for the Countess of Pembroke".<ref>{{Harvnb|Eliot|1933}}</ref> Subsequent literary criticism, however, has suggested that Sidney's literary efforts were not part of a campaign against English drama, but rather were efforts to adapt continental works on history for an English audience and use them for contemporary political commentary.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lamb|1981}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hannay|1990|pp=121–122}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Kewes|2012|pp=245–248}}</ref>