American poet, born in New York City, on the 7th of August 1795; died there, on the 21st of September 1820. His parents died early, and he was left, as a boy, to shift for himself. At first he was placed to serve in business, but soon abandoned merchandise for the study of medicine. In 1812 he became connected with Fitz-Greene Halleck. His most aspiring poem, The Culprit Fay, was written in his twenty-second year. In March, 1819, Drake and Halleck wrote anonymously, for the New York Evening Post, a series of comic verses, signed “Croaker,” “Croaker, Jr.,” and “Croaker & Co.” A volume of his collected verses was published by his daughter in 1835. His best-known composition is the address to The American Flag, for which Halleck furnished the four concluding lines. During a number of years Doctor Drake kept an apothecary shop in Park row, New York City. He died of consumption. See also Literary Criticism.
