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![this is a good poem i like it but not so much on the part when she sends him back the flowers she should of
kept them i would if i was her;]
by:melissa aka molly dolly
this is a good poem i like it but not so much on the part when she sends him back the flowers she should of
kept them i would if i was her;]
by:melissa aka molly dolly
I see this poem in a different sense. I do not see it as romantic or compassionate but slightly psychotic. He
talks about committing to her, and yet he has only just set eyes upon her across the room. She sends the
flower back, relaying the fact that she is not interested and yet all he notices is it now has her breath on it. She
may not have even intended to breathe on it but he looks past this and sees it as a clear sign his feelings are
reciprocated back to him from her. As the courtly tradition she is probably already married which could back
up why she sent the gift back. When i read this poem i just get the image of a man trying to hold the attention
of a woman he is attracted to across the room, and she is politely declining his offers. He never states anything
she does back to him. I just fail to see the romantic side to it.
This is a very sweet poem and it is my favourite too
In this poenm speaker is expressing his deep feelings and love for Celia,He wants the faithful love from his
frind tht's why he said" Drink to me with thine eyes and i will pledge with mine"He does not want to exchange
his glass of wine with jove's nector cup i.e the roman god (Jupitor) Jove's nector or the drink of god,Speaker
would give up the drink of the god for a drink from a cup which her lips merely have touched, but it’s not wine
he searches for. He simply wishes for his lovers love.
Then He sends her “a rosy wreath.He send them to devote her that they would not withered their and
remains fresh, but she send it back to him after breathing and since than roses are giving the smell of his
friend.Such a nice poem.charming tribute of love that age of love poems.
speaker has deep and compelling love for his love celia that he is willing to give up anything in particular in
exchange for Celia's compassion and love
This is a very sweet poem and it is my favourite too
In this poenm speaker is expressing his deep feelings and love for Celia,He wants the faithful love from his
frind tht's why he said" Drink to me with thine eyes and i will pledge with mine"He does not want to exchange
his glass of wine with jove's nector cup i.e the roman god (Jupitor) Jove's nector or the drink of god,Speaker
would give up the drink of the god for a drink from a cup which her lips merely have touched, but it’s not wine
he searches for. He simply wishes for his lovers love.
Then He sends her “a rosy wreath.He send them to devote her that they would not withered their and
remains fresh, but she send it back to him after breathing and since than roses are giving the smell of his
friend.Such a nice poem.charming tribute of love that age of love poems.
speaker has deep and compelling love for his love celia that he is willing to give up anything in particular in
exchange for Celia's compassion and love
my analysis for this poem is that the speaker has deep and compelling love for Celia that he is willing to give
up anything in particular in exchange for Celia's compassion and love. He had attempted to court her by
sending her roses but unfortunately Celia declines his offer and sent it back to him. But when the roses was
returnde, it no longer smell like it did but now it posess the fragrance and smell of thy beloved Celia. This love](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-4-2048.jpg)
![expressing our emotions. It's like powerful emotions are almost spiritual, and the soul just doesn't play by the
rules of vocabulary.
That doesn't mean you should give it a shot, though. Go ahead. You know you want to write a poem called "To
Fries with Mayo." But be sure to check out "To Celia" first. You might learn a thing or two from Ben Jonson on
how to express your passion in words.
Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson, CM OOnt (born December 30, 1961 in Falmouth, Jamaica), is a former
sprinter from Canada, who enjoyed a high-profile career during most of the 1980s, winning two Olympic
bronze medals and an Olympic gold, which was subsequently rescinded. He set consecutive 100 metres world
records at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics, but he was disqualified
for doping, losing the Olympic title and both records.
Biography
Career background
Born in Falmouth, Jamaica, Johnson emigrated to Canada in 1976, residing in Scarborough, Ontario.
Johnson met coach Charlie Francis and joined the Scarborough Optimists track and field club, training at York
University. Francis was a Canadian 100 metres sprint champion himself (1970, 1971 and 1973) and a member
of the Canadian team for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Francis was also Canada's national sprint
coach for nine years.
Johnson's first international success came when he won two silver medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in
Brisbane, Australia. He finished behind Allan Wells of Scotland in the 100 m with a time of 10.05 seconds and
was a member of the Canadian 4x100 m relay team. This success was not repeated at the 1983 World
Championships in Helsinki, where he was eliminated in the semi-finals, finishing 6th with a time of 10.44.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he reached the 100 m final; after false starting, he won the
bronze medal behind Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy with a time of 10.22. He also won a bronze medal with the
Canadian 4x100 m relay team of Johnson, Tony Sharpe, Desai Williams and Sterling Hinds, who ran a time of
38.70. By the end of the 1984 season, Johnson had established himself as Canada's top sprinter, and on August
22 in Zurich, Switzerland, he bettered Williams' Canadian record of 10.17 by running 10.12.
In 1985, after eight consecutive losses, Johnson finally beat Carl Lewis. Other success against Lewis included
the 1986 Goodwill Games, where Johnson beat Lewis, running 9.95 for first place, against Lewis' third-place
time of 10.06. He broke Houston McTear's seven-year old world record in the 60 metres in 1986, with a time of
6.50 seconds.[1] He also won Commonwealth gold at the 1986 games in Edinburgh, beating Linford Christie for
the 100 m title with a time of 10.07. Johnson also led the Canadian 4x100 m relay team to gold, and won a
bronze in the 200 m.
On April 29, 1987, Johnson was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. "World record holder for the
indoor 60-meter run, this Ontarian has proved himself to be the world's fastest human being and has broken
Canadian, Commonwealth and World Cup 100-meter records," it read. "Recipient of the Norton Crowe Award
for Male Athlete of the Year for 1985, 'Big Ben' was the winner of the 1986 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top
athlete."
By the time of the 1987 World Championships, Johnson had won his four previous races with Lewis and had
established himself as the best 100 m sprinter. At Rome, Johnson gained instant world fame and confirmed this](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-9-2048.jpg)
![status when he beat Lewis for the title, setting a new world record of 9.83 seconds as well, beating Calvin
Smith's former record by a full tenth of a second.
After Rome, Johnson became a lucrative marketing celebrity. According to coach Charlie Francis, after
breaking the world record, Johnson earned about $480,000 a month in endorsements.[2] Johnson won both the
Lou Marsh Trophy and Lionel Conacher Award, and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for
1987.
Following Johnson's defeat of Lewis in Rome, Lewis started trying to explain away his defeat. He first claimed
that Johnson had false-started, then he alluded to a stomach virus which had weakened him. Finally, without
naming names, Lewis said "There are a lot of people coming out of nowhere. I don’t think they are doing it
without drugs." This was the start of Lewis’ calling on the sport of track and field to be cleaned up in terms of
the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. While cynics noted that the problem had been in the sport for
many years, they pointed out that it didn’t become a cause for Lewis until he was actually defeated, with some
also pointing to Lewis's egotistical attitude and lack of humility. During a controversial interview with the BBC,
Lewis said:[3]
There are gold medallists at this meet who are on drugs, that [100 metres] race will be looked at for many years,
for more reasons than one.
Johnson's response was:
When Carl Lewis was winning everything, I never said a word against him. And when the next guy comes
along and beats me, I won’t complain about that either.
This set up the rivalry leading into the 1988 Olympic Games.
In 1988, Johnson experienced a number of setbacks to his running career. In February of that year he pulled a
hamstring, and in May he aggravated the same injury. Meanwhile in Paris in June, Lewis ran a 9.99. Then in
Zurich, Switzerland on August 17, the two faced each other for the first time since the 1987 World
Championships, Lewis won in 9.93, while Johnson finished third in 10.00. "The gold medal for the (Olympic)
100 meters is mine," Carl Lewis said. "I will never again lose to Johnson."[3]
Olympic win and subsequent disqualification
On September 24, 1988, Johnson beat Lewis in the 100m final at the Olympics, lowering his own world record
to 9.79 seconds. Johnson would later remark that he would have been even faster had he not raised his hand in
the air just before he finished the race.[4] However, Johnson's urine samples were found to contain stanozolol,
and he was disqualified three days later. He later admitted having used steroids when he ran his 1987 world
record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well. Johnson and coach Francis complained that they
used doping in order to remain on an equal footing with the other top athletes on drugs they had to compete
against. In testimony before the Dubin inquiry into drug use, Francis charged that Johnson was only one of
many cheaters, and he just happened to get caught. Later, five of the finalists of the 100-meter race tested
positive for banned drugs or were implicated in a drug scandal at some point in their careers: Carl Lewis, who
was given the gold medal, Linford Christie, who was moved up to the silver medal and who went on to win
gold at the next Games, Dennis Mitchell, who was moved up to fourth place and finished third to Christie in
1992, and Desai Williams, Johnson's countryman who won a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Games in
1984.[5]
Johnson's coach, Charlie Francis, a vocal critic of the IOC testing procedures, is the author of Speed Trap,
which features Johnson heavily. In the book, he freely admits that his athletes were taking anabolic steroids, as](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-10-2048.jpg)
![he claims all top athletes at the time were, and also claims that Johnson could not possibly have tested positive
for that particular steroid since Johnson actually preferred furazabol. He thought stanozolol made his body "feel
tight".[6]
The Canadian reaction to 9.79 seconds
Canadians rejoiced in the reflected glory of winning the gold medal and breaking the world record.
Newspapers covered the occasion by concocting words such as "Benfastic" (Toronto Star, September 25, 1988)
to describe it. Two days later, Canadians witnessed the downfall of Johnson, when he was stripped of his gold
medal and world record. In the first week following the dethroning, Canadian newspapers devoted between five
to eight pages a day to the story. Some squarely placed the blame on Johnson, such as one headline right after
the exposure suggests: "Why, Ben?" (Toronto Sun, September 26, 1988).
Because of the Olympic scandal, The Canadian news agency, Canadian Press, named Johnson "Newsmaker of
the Year" for 1988.
The Dubin Inquiry
After the Seoul test, he initially denied doping, but, testifying before the 1989 Dubin Inquiry, a Canadian
government investigation into drug abuse, Johnson admitted that he had lied. Charlie Francis, his coach, told the
inquiry that Johnson had been using steroids since 1981.
In Canada, the federal government established the Commission of Inquiry Into the Use of Drugs and Banned
Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance, headed by Ontario Appeal Court Chief Justice Charles
Dubin. The Dubin Inquiry (as it became known), which was televised live, heard hundreds of hours of
testimony about the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs among athletes. The inquiry began in
January 1989 and lasted 91 days, with 122 witnesses called, including athletes, coaches, sport administrators,
IOC representatives, doctors and government officials.
Comeback
In 1991, after his suspension ended, he attempted a comeback. He returned to the track for the Hamilton Indoor
Games in 1991 and was greeted by the largest crowd to ever attend an indoor Canadian track and field event.
More than 17,000 people saw him finish second in the 50 metres in 5.77 seconds.
He failed to qualify for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo but made the Canadian Olympic team again in
1992 in Barcelona, Spain after finishing second at the Canadian Olympic trials to Bruny Surin.[7] He missed the
100 metre finals at the Olympics however, finishing last in his semi-final heat after stumbling out of the blocks.
In 1993, he won the 50 metres on February 7 in Grenoble, France, in 5.65 seconds, just 0.04 seconds shy of the
world record. However in January 1993, he was found guilty of doping at a race in Montreal - this time for
excess testosterone - and was subsequently banned for life by the IAAF. Federal amateur sport minister Pierre
Cadieux called Johnson a national disgrace, and suggested he consider moving back to Jamaica. Johnson
commented that it was "by far the most disgusting comment [he had] ever heard."[8] In April 1999, a Canadian
adjudicator ruled that there were procedural errors in Johnson's lifetime ban and allowed him to appeal. The
decision meant Johnson could technically run in Canada but nobody would compete against him. They would
be considered "contaminated" by the IAAF and could also face sanctions. On June 12, 1999, Johnson entered a
track meet in Kitchener, Ontario, and was forced to run alone, against the clock. He posted a time of 11.0
seconds. In late 1999, Johnson failed a drug test for the third time by testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-11-2048.jpg)
![banned diuretic that can be used to mask the presence of other drugs. Johnson had not competed since 1993 and
had arranged the test himself as part of his efforts to be reinstated.
Al-Saadi Gaddafi training stint
In 1999, Johnson made headlines again when it was revealed that he had been hired by Libyan leader Muammar
Gaddafi to act as a football coach for his son, Al-Saadi Gaddafi, who aspired to join an Italian football club. Al-
Saadi ultimately did join an Italian team but was sacked after one game when he failed a drug test. Johnson's
publicist in Canada had predicted in The Globe and Mail that his training of the young Gaddafi would earn
Johnson a Nobel Peace Prize.
Late 1990s and beyond
Johnson briefly acted as trainer for Argentine football legend Diego Maradona in 1997. This occurred at York
University, Toronto.[9]
In 1998, Johnson appeared in a charity race in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he raced against a
thoroughbred race horse, a harness racing horse and a stock car.[10] Johnson finished third in the race.
According to a 1998 article in Outside magazine, Johnson spent much of the latter part of the 1990s living
downstairs in the house he shared with his mother Gloria. He spent his leisure time reading, watching movies
and Roadrunner cartoons, and taking his mother to church. He lived in a spacious home in Newmarket,
Ontario's Stonehaven neighborhood. He claims to have lost his Ferrari when he used it as collateral for a loan
from an acquaintance in order to make a house payment.[11] Gloria died of cancer in 2004 and Johnson lived
with his sister afterwards.
Shortly after his leaving Libya, it was reported that Johnson had been robbed of $7,300 by a Romany gang in
Rome. His wallet was taken, containing $7,300 in cash, the proceeds of his pay for training Gaddafi. Johnson
gave chase, but was unable to catch them after they vanished into a subway station.[12]
In May 2005, Johnson launched a clothing and sports supplement line, the Ben Johnson Collection. The motto
for Johnson's clothing line was "Catch Me"; however, the clothing line never took off.[13]
In a January 1, 2006 interview, [14] Johnson claimed that he was sabotaged by a "Mystery Man"[15] inside the
doping-control room immediately following the 100m final in Seoul. He also stated that 40% of people in the
sports world are still taking drugs to improve their performance.
In March 2006, television spots featuring Johnson advertising an energy drink, "Cheetah Power Surge", started
to receive some airtime. Some pundits questioned whether Johnson was an appropriate spokesperson for an all
natural energy drink considering his history of steroid use.[16][17] One ad is a mock interview between Johnson
and Frank D'Angelo, the president and chief executive of D'Angelo Brands, which makes the drink, in which he
asks Johnson: "Ben, when you run, do you Cheetah?". "Absolutely," says Johnson. "I Cheetah all the time."[18]
The other commercial includes Johnson and a cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, and encourages viewers
to "go ahead and Cheetah."[18]
In August 2008, Johnson filed a $37 million lawsuit against the estate of his former lawyer Ed Futerman,
claiming Futerman made unauthorized payments from his trust account to pay bills and 20 percent commissions
to a hairdresser recruited by the lawyer to act as the sprinter's sports agent.
At present, Johnson lives in Markham, Ontario and spends much of his time with his daughter and
granddaughter. He also continues to coach. In 2010, he released his autobiography entitled Seoul to Soul.[13] In](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-12-2048.jpg)
![the self-published book, Johnson reviews his childhood in Jamaica, and his early bout with malaria. A Canadian
Press article described the book as "an unconventional sports autobiography."[19]
Ben Jonson was born around June 11, 1572, the posthumous son of a clergyman. He
was educated at Westminster School by the great classical scholar William Camden and
worked in his stepfather's trade, bricklaying. The trade did not please him in the least,
and he joined the army, serving in Flanders. He returned to England about 1592 and
married Anne Lewis on November 14, 1594.
Jonson joined the theatrical company of Philip Henslowe in London as an actor and
playwright on or before 1597, when he is identified in the papers of Henslowe. In 1597
he was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison for his involvement in a satire entitled The Isle of
Dogs, declared seditious by the authorities. The following year Jonson killed a fellow
actor, Gabriel Spencer, in a duel in the Fields at Shoreditch and was tried at Old Bailey
for murder. He escaped the gallows only by pleading benefit of clergy. During his
subsequent imprisonment he converted to Roman Catholicism only to convert back to
Anglicism over a decade later, in 1610. He was released forfeit of all his possessions,
and with a felon's brand on his thumb.
Jonson's second known play, Every Man in His Humour, was performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain's Men at the
Globe with William Shakespeare in the cast. Jonson became a celebrity, and there was a brief fashion for 'humours'
comedy, a kind of topical comedy involving eccentric characters, each of whom represented a temperament, or humor, of
humanity. His next play, Every Man Out of His Humour (1599), was less successful. Every Man Out of His Humour and
Cynthia's Revels (1600) were satirical comedies displaying Jonson's classical learning and his interest in formal
experiment.
Jonson's explosive temperament and conviction of his superior talent gave rise to "War of the Theatres". In The Poetaster
(1601), he satirized other writers, chiefly the English dramatists Thomas Dekker and John Marston. Dekker and Marston
retaliated by attacking Jonson in their Satiromastix (1601). The plot of Satiromastix was mainly overshadowed by its
abuse of Jonson. Jonson had portrayed himself as Horace in The Poetaster, and in Satiromastix Marston and Dekker, as
Demetrius and Crispinus ridicule Horace, presenting Jonson as a vain fool. Eventually, the writers patched their feuding;
in 1604 Jonson collaborated with Dekker on The King's Entertainment and with Marston and George Chapman on
Eastward Ho.
Jonson's next play, the classical tragedy Sejanus, His Fall (1603), based on Roman history and offering an astute view of
dictatorship, again got Jonson into trouble with the authorities. Jonson was called before the Privy Council on charges of
'popery and treason'. Jonson did not, however, learn a lesson, and was again briefly imprisoned, with Marston and
Chapman, for controversial views ("something against the Scots") espoused in Eastward Ho (1604). These two incidents
jeopardized his emerging role as court poet to King James I. Having converted to Catholicism, Jonson was also the object
of deep suspicion after the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes (1605).
In 1605, Jonson began to write masques for the entertainment of the court. The earliest of his masques, The Satyr was
given at Althorpe, and Jonson seems to have been appointed Court Poet shortly after. The masques displayed his
erudition, wit, and versatility and contained some of his best lyric poetry. Masque of Blacknesse (1605) was the first in a
series of collaborations with Inigo Jones, noted English architect and set designer. This collaboration produced masques
such as The Masque of Owles, Masque of Beauty (1608), and Masque of Queens (1609), which were performed in Inigo
Jones' elaborate and exotic settings. These masques ascertained Jonson's standing as foremost writer of masques in the
Jacobean era. The collaboration with Jones was finally destroyed by intense personal rivalry.
Jonson's enduring reputation rests on the comedies written between 1605 and 1614. The first of these, Volpone, or The
Fox (performed in 1605-1606, first published in 1607) is often regarded as his masterpiece. The play, though set in Venice,
directs its scrutiny on the rising merchant classes of Jacobean London. The following plays, Epicoene: or, The Silent
Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614) are all peopled with dupes and those who deceive
them. Jonson's keen sense of his own stature as author is represented by the unprecedented publication of his Works, in
folio, in 1616. He was appointed as poet laureate and rewarded a substantial pension in the same year.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-13-2048.jpg)
![I: To The Reader
II: To My Book
III: To My Bookseller
IV: To King James
V: On the Union
VI: To Alchemists
VII: On the New Hot-House
VIII: On a Robbery
IX: To All, To Whom I Write
X: To My Lord Ignorant
XI: On Something That Walks Somewhere
XII: On Lieutenant Shift
XIII: To Doctor Empiric
XIV: To William Camden
XV: On Court-Worm
XVI: To Brainhardy
XVII: To the Learned Critic
XVIII: To My Mere English Censurer
XIX: On Sir Cod the Perfumed
XX: To the Same. [Sir Cod the Perfumed]
XXI: On Reformed Gam'ster
XXII: On My First Daughter
XXIII: To John Donne
XXIV: To the Parliament
XXV: On Sir Voluptuous Beast
XXVI: On the Same
XXVII: On Sir John Roe
XXVIII: On Don Surly
XXIX: To Sir Annual Tilter
XXX: To Person Guilty
XXXI: On Banks the Usurer
XXXII: On Sir John Roe (II)
XXXIII: To the Same
XXXIV: Of Death
XXXV: To King James (II)
XXXVI: To the Ghost of Martial
XXXVII: On Cheveril the Lawyer
XXXVIII: On Person Guilty
XXXIX: On Old Colt
XL: On Margaret Ratcliffe
XLI: On Gipsy
XLII: On Giles and Joan
XLIII: To Robert Earl of Salisbury
XLIV: On Chuffe, Banks the Usurer's Kinsman
XLV: On my First Son
XLVI: To Sir Luckless Woo-All
XLVII: To the Same
XLVIII: On Mungril Esquire](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-18-2048.jpg)
![XLIX: To Playwright
L: To Sir Cod
LI: To King James
LII: To Censorious Courtling
LIII: To Oldend Gatherer
LIV: On Cheveril
LV: To Francis Beaumont
LVI: On Poet-Ape
LVII: On Bawds and Usurers
LVIII: To Groom Idiot
LIX: On Spies
LX: To William Lord Mounteagle
LXI: To Fool, or Knave
LXII: To Fine Lady Would-Be
LXIII: To Robert Earl of Salisbury
LXIV: To the Same. Upon the Accession of the Treasurership to him. [Robt E. Salisbury]
LXV: To my Muse
LXVI: To Sir Henry Cary
LXVII: To Thomas Earl of Suffolk
LXVIII: On Playwright
LXIX: To Pertinax Cob
LXX: To William Roe
LXXI: On Court Parrot
LXXII: To Courtling
LXXIII: To Fine Grand
LXXIV: To Thomas Lord Chancellor
LXXV: On Lippe the Teacher
LXXVI: To Lucy Countess of Bedford
LXXVII: To One that Desired Me Not to Name Him
LXXVIII: To Hornet
LXXIX: To Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland
LXXX: Of Life and Death
LXXXVI: To the Same. [H. Goodyere]
LXXXIX: To Edward Allen (Alleyne)
XCIV: To Lucy, Countess of Bedford, with John Donne's Satires
CI: Inviting a Friend to Supper
CV: To Mary Lady Wroth
CXVIII: On Gut
CXX: An Epitaph on S [alathiel] P [avy]
CXXIV: Epitaph on Elizabeth, L.H.
CXXVIII: To William Roe
Complete - Luminarium Editions
I: Why I Write Not Of Love
II: To Penshurst
III: To Sir Robert Wroth
IV: To the World: A Farewell for a Gentlewoman, Virtuous and Noble](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-19-2048.jpg)
![V: Song To Celia ("Come my Celia, let us prove")
VI: To the Same ("Kiss me, Sweet")
VII: Song. That Women Are But Men's Shadows
VIII: Song. To Sickness
IX: To Celia ("Drink to me only with thine eyes")
X: Præludium ("And must I sing?")
XI: Epode ("Not to know vice at all")
XII: Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland
XIII: Epistle to Katherine, Lady Aubigny
XIV: Ode to Sir William Sidney, on His Birthday
XV: To Heaven
Poems of Devotion
2. An Hymn to God the Father
3. An Hymn on the Nativity of My Savior
I: His Excuse for Loving Audio
II: How he saw Her
III: What he Suffered
IV: Her Triumph
V: His Discourse with Cupid
VI: Claiming a Second Kiss by Desert
VII: Begging Another
VIII: Urging her of a Promise
IX: Her Man described by her own Dictamen
X: Another Lady's Exception, present at the Hearing
Miscellaneous Poems
1. The Musical Strife. A Pastoral Dialogue
2. A Song [Oh, do not wanton with those eyes]
3. In the Person of Womankind. A Song Apologetic.
5. A Nymph's Passion
6. The Hour-Glass
7. My Picture Left in Scotland Audio
8. Against Jealousy
9. The Dream
10. An Epitaph on Master Vincent Corbet
11. On the Portrait of Shakspeare
12. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare
14. To Mr. John Fletcher, Upon His "Faithful Shepherdess"
15. Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke
17. Epitaph on Michael Drayton
19. To His Much and Worthily Esteemed Friend, the Author
20. To My Worthy and Honored Friend, Master George Chapman](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-20-2048.jpg)
![23. Epigram. In Authorem. [re: Nicholas Breton]
25. To the Author [re: Thomas Wright]
26. To the Author [re: T. Warre]
36. An Elegy [By those bright eyes]
39. An Elegy [Though beauty be the mark of praise]
41. An Ode to Himself [Where dost Thou careless lie]
42. The Mind of the Frontispiece to a Book
44. An Ode [High-spirited friend]
46. A Sonnet, to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Worth [I that have been a lover]
47. A Fit of Rhyme against Rhyme
57. An Elegy [To make the doubt clear]
59. An Elegy [Since you must go]
60. An Elegy [Let me be what I am]
68. An Epigram, to the Honored Countess of * * *
69. On Lord Bacon's Birthday
77. An Epitaph on Henry Lord La-ware
87. A Pindaric Ode [To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair....]
92. To the Right Honorable Hierome, Lord Weston
93. Epithalamion ; Or, A Song
100. An Elegy on the Lady Jane Pawlet, Marchioness of Winton
To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare
Ode to Himself upon the Censure of his "New Inn"
"This is Mab, the mistress-fairy" (The Particular Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althrope)
"Of Pan we sing" (Pan's Anniversary)
"Slow, slow, fresh fount" (Cynthia's Revels)
"Oh, that joy so soon should waste" (Cynthia's Revels)
"Queen, and huntress, chaste and fair" (Cynthia's Revels)
"If I freely may discover" (The Poetaster)
"Swell me a bowl" (The Poetaster)
"Still to Be Neat" (Epicoene, or the Silent Woman)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-21-2048.jpg)
!["Though I Am Young and Cannot Tell" (The Sad Shepherd)
"The faery beam upon you" (The Gypsies Metamorphosed)
"To the old, long life and treasure" (The Gypsies Metamorphosed)
"So breaks the sun earth's rugged chains" (The Irish Masque)
Plays
The Alchemist - Project Gutenberg
Bartholomew Fair - UMichigan
The Case is Altered - Holloway Pages
Catiline - Holloway Pages
Cynthia's Revels - Project Gutenberg
The Devil is an Ass - Holloway Pages
Eastward Ho - Holloway Pages
Epicoene - Project Gutenberg
Every Man in His Humour - Project Gutenberg
Every Man Out of His Humor - Luminarium Editions
The Magnetic Lady - Holloway Pages
Mortimer his Fall (Fragment) - Holloway Pages
New Inn - Holloway Pages
The Poetaster - Project Gutenberg
The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood - Univ. of Rochester
Sejanus - Project Gutenberg
The Staple of News - Holloway Pages
A Tale of a Tub - Holloway Pages
Volpone, or The Fox - Project Gutenberg
Volpone, or The Fox - Full Manuscript Image Facsimile at SCETI
Masques
A Challenge at Tilt - Holloway Pages
The Fortunate Isles, and Their Union - GB
The Golden Age Restored (1616) - Luminarium Editions
Gypsies Metamorphosed - Google Books
The Irish Masque - Holloway Pages
Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly - Holloway Pages
Love Restored (1612) - Luminarium Editions
Masque of Augurs - Google Books
The Masque of Hymen (aka Hymenæ) (1606) - Luminarium Editions
The Masque of Owls - Google Books
[Excerpt]
Masque of Queens (1609) - Holloway Pages
Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists (1615) - Luminarium Editions
Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion - Google Books
News from the New World - Dartmouth](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-22-2048.jpg)
![Oberon, the Fairy Prince (1611) - Luminarium Editions
The Queen's Masques
The Masque of Blackness (1605) - Luminarium Editions
The Masque of Beauty (1608) - Renascence Editions
Pan's Anniversary - Google Books
Prince Henry's Barriers - Holloway Pages
Time Vindicated to Himself & To His Honours - Google Books
Timber: Or, Discoveries - Project Gutenberg
Timber: Or Discoveries
Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries
Another Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries [Bacon]
Another Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries [Bacon 2]
Another Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries [Shakespeare]
Two Jonson Poems in Russian
These essays are not intended to replace library research. They are here to show
you what others think about a given subject, and to perhaps spark an interest or an
idea in you. To take one of these essays, copy it, and to pass it off as your own is
known as plagiarism—academic dishonesty which will result (in every university
I've heard tell of) in suspension or dismissal from the university. Not only are your
professors as technology-savvy as you are, they will not tolerate theft of another's
intellectual efforts.
Nota bene:
Background and code copyright ©1996-2010 Anniina Jokinen. All rights reserved.
=Student Essay
THE PLAYS:
Dissertation: "Falling to a devilish exercise": Magic and Spectacle on the Renaissance Stage - Shayne Confer
Dissertation: Health Imagery and Rhetoric in the Major Comedies of Ben Jonson - Leona F. Dale [.pdf]
Thesis: Dramatic Functions of Costuming in Plays by Ben Jonson - Emmett W. Cook [.pdf]
The Trickster-figure in Jacobean City Comedy - William R. Dynes
Stuart Civic Pageants and Textual Performance - David M. Bergeron](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-23-2048.jpg)
![The Alchemist
Thesis: Counterpoint: Its Use in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist - Gary Nored [.pdf]
Thesis: "There's Magic in the Web of It": White and Black Magic in Jonson, Marlowe and Shakespeare - Marnie Findlater [.pdf]
Suspense is Believing: The Reality of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist - Donald Beecher
Jonson's Satire of Puritanism in The Alchemist - Jeanette D. Ferreira-Ross [.pdf]
The Repudiation of the Marvelous: Jonson's The Alchemist and the Limits of Satire - Ian McAdam [.pdf]
From Costiveness to Comic Relief: Purgation in The Alchemist - Tony Perrello
The Alchemist and the Emerging Adult Private Playhouse - Anthony J. Ouellette
Explication of the Opening of The Alchemist - Nathan Cervo
Erasmus's 'Beggar Talk' and Jonson's Alchemist - Eric Sterling and Robert C. Evans
Imagining Alchemists and Magicians in New Atlantis, The Tempest, and The Alchemist - David Hurley
Dynamic Linguistic and Artistic Patterns in Jonson's The Alchemist - Amra Raza [.pdf]
Bartholomew Fair
'A more familiar straine': Puppetry and Burlesque, or, Translation as Debasement in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Rui
Carvalho Homem [.pdf]
The Use of Booths in the Original Staging of Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Gabriel Egan [.pdf]
The Puritan Dialectic of Law and Grace in Bartholomew Fair - Ian McAdam
Bartholomew Fair and Jonsonian Tolerance - G.M. Pinciss
The Law versus the Marketplace: Spontaneous Order in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Paul A. Cantor [.pdf]
The (Self)-Fashioning of Ezekiel Edgworth in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Jean MacIntyre
Ben Jonson's 'Civil Savages' - Rebecca Ann Bach
Jonson at the Fair: A Playwright's Career in Review - David Reinheimer
Ben Jonson Unmasked - Kathleen A. Prendergast
The Widow Hunt on the Tudor-Stuart Stage - Ira Clark
Epicoene
Thesis: Men Disguised as Women in Elizabethan Drama - Marion S. Karr [.pdf]
Dumb Reading: The Noise of the Mute in Jonson's Epicene - Adrian Curtin
Jonson's Gossips and the Stuart Family Drama - Kristen McDermott
"Things like truths, well feigned": Mimesis and Secrecy in Jonson's Epicoene - Reuben Sanchez
"On forfeit of your selves, think nothing true": Self-Deception in Ben Jonson's Epicoene - J. A. Jackson
Masculine Silence: 'Epicoene' and Jonsonian Stylistics - Douglas Lanier
Refashioning Society in Ben Jonson's Epicoene - Marjorie Swann
The Classical Context of Ben Jonson's "other youth" - Bruce Boehrer
Cross Dressing with a Difference: The Roaring Girl and Epicoene - David Cope
Epicoene's Cosmetic Contingencies - Mary E. Brooks and Jenna H. Sharp
Every Man Out of His Humour
Jonson's Every Man Out and Commentators on Terence - Matthew Steggle
New Inn
'Wardrobe Stuffe': Clothes, Costume and the Politics of Dress in Ben Jonson's The New Inn - Julie Sanders
Some Uses for Romance: Shakespeare's Cymbeline and Jonson's The New Inn - Andrew Stewart
Ben Jonson's 'Civil Savages' - Rebecca Ann Bach
The Poetaster](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-24-2048.jpg)
![Undergrad Thesis: Gallimaufray and Hellebore: Spenser and Jonson in Dialogue with the Past - Ruth M. McAdams [.pdf]
The Pleasures of Restraint: The Mean of Coyness in Cavalier Poetry - Joshua Scodel
Ben Jonson Unmasked - Kathleen A. Prendergast
Sejanus
Thesis: Complexity of Character in Jonson's Sejanus - Jennifer D. Jones [.pdf]
Censorship and Representation in The Stuart Era: Three Roman Plays - David Cope [.pdf]
Jonson and the Neo-Classical Rules in Sejanus and Volpone - David Faley-Hills
Volpone
The Intertextualities of Ben Jonson's Volpone - James Tulip [.pdf]
Instances of Verbal Fraud in Jonson's Volpone - Elsa Simões Lucas Freitas [.pdf]
Volpone and the Ends of Comedy - Ian Donaldson [.pdf]
The Circle Pattern in Ben Jonson's Volpone - Jesús Cora Alonso [.pdf]
Volpone as a Non–Comedy - Farida Chishti [.pdf]
The Progress of Trickster in Ben Jonson's "Volpone" - Don Beecher
"In his gold I shine": Jacobean Comedy and the Art of the Mediating Trickster - Alizon Brunning
Jonson's Volpone and Dante - Christopher Baker and Richard Hart
Ben Jonson's Beastly Comedy: Outfoxing the Critics, Gulling the Audience in Volpone - Clifford Davis
In Changèd Shapes: The Two Jonsons' Volpones and Textual Editing - Karen Pirnie
The Setting of "Volpone" - Ralph A. Cohen
"Volpone"and the Old Comedy - P. H. Davison
Jonson and the Neo-Classical Rules in Sejanus and Volpone - David Faley-Hills
Unity of Theme in Volpone - Dorothy E. Litt
Volpone's "Sport" and the Structure of Jonson's Volpone - James D. Redwine, Jr.
Volpone: The Art of Deception - Miranda Johnson-Haddad
Jonson's Romish Foxe: Anti-Catholic Discourse in Volpone - Alizon Brunning
Ben Jonson Unmasked - Kathleen A. Prendergast
Volpone and Stage Androgyny in the English Renaissance - Celeste Collins
Volpone: Jonson's Experimentation with Comedy - Michael Williams
Antitheatricalism in Light of Ben Jonson's Volpone - Joel Culpepper
Shakespeare's Othello Compared to Jonson's Volpone - Jason
Other Plays
"Away, Stand off, I say": Women's Appropriations of Restraint and Constraint in
The Birth of Merlin and The Devil is an Ass - Sarah E. Johnson
'The top of woman! All her sex in abstract!': Ben Jonson
Directs the Boy Actor in The Devil is an Ass - Regina Buccola
The Appropriation of Pleasure in The Magnetic Lady - Helen Ostovich
MASQUES & ENTERTAINMENTS:](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-25-2048.jpg)
!["The English Masque" - Felix E. Schelling mus t
Dissertation: Courtly Psychosis: The Rhetoric of Preferment in the Court Masque - Moira E. Phillips [.pdf]
Jonson's Masque Markets and Problems of Literary Ownership - Alison V. Scott
"But why do I describe what all must see?": Verbal Explication in the Stuart Masque - Agnieszka
Kolodziejska [.pdf]
Performing Love in Ben Jonson's Masques - Chris Hill [.pdf]
"Native Dyes": Race and Politics in the Jacobean Masque - Weidner & Walravens
Beyond the Emblem: Alchemical Albedo in Ben Jonson's The Masque of Blackness - Rafael Vélez Núñez
Emblems of Darkness: Othello (1604) and the Masque of Blackness (1605) - Manuel José Gómez Lara
Performing Devotion in The Masque of Blacknesse - Molly Murray
Beauty and the Beast: Images of Whiteness and Blackness from Jonson's The Masque of Blackness (1605) to
Richard Brome's The English Moor, or The Mock-Marriage (1637) - Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre
Jonson's Gossips and the Stuart Family Drama - Kristen McDermott
The Three Faces of the Goddess in Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens - Maria Salomé Figueirôa Navarro
Machado
Amazon Reflections in the Jacobean Queen's Masque - Kathryn Schwarz
Culture de cour et idéologie: de l'usage de la pastorale dans le masque Pans Anniversarie de Ben Jonson -
Guillaume Forain [.pdf]
The Performing Heir in Jonson's Jacobean Masques - Jean E. Graham
The Problem in the Middle: Liminality in the Jonsonian Masque - Gregory A. Wilson
The Rhetoric of Place in Ben Jonson's 'Chorographical' Entertainments and Masques - Thomas Worden
Restoring Astraea: Jonson's Masque for the Fall of Somerset - Martin Butler and David Lindley
Marketing Luxury at the New Exchange: Jonson's Entertainment at Britain's Burse and the Rhetoric of Wonder
- Alison V. Scott
THE POETRY:
The Poetry of Ben Jonson - G. A. E. Parfitt
The Tone of Ben Jonson's Poetry - Geoffrey Walton
Ben Jonson's Poetry: Pastoral, Georgic, Epigram - Harris Friedberg
Ben Jonson and the Story of Charis - Ian Donaldson [.pdf]
Troping prostitution: Jonson and "The Court Pucell" - Victoria E. Price
'This truest glass': Ben Jonson's Verse Epistles and the Construction of the Ideal Patron - Colleen Shea
Literature as Equipment for Living: Ben Jonson and the Poetics of Patronage - Robert C. Evans
Stoicism and Plain Style in Ben Jonson: An Analysis of Some of His Verse Epistles - José María Pérez
Fernández
Liberty and History in Jonson's Invitation to Supper - Robert Cummings
A Case for the Epigram: Ben Jonson's "Inviting a Friend to Supper" - Meredith Goulding [.pdf]
"On the Famous Voyage": Ben Jonson and Civic Space - Andrew McRae
Horatian satire in Jonson's "On the Famous Voyage" - Bruce Boehrer
In the Person of Womankind: Female Persona Poems by Campion, Donne, Jonson - Pamela Coren
Ben Jonson and the 'Traditio Basiorum': Catullan imitation in 'The Forrest' 5 and 6 - Bruce Boehrer
Ben Jonson's 'On My First Son' and the Common Prayer Catechism - Jonquil Bevan](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-26-2048.jpg)
![Microhistory and Cultural Geography: Ben Jonson's "To Sir Robert Wroth" and the Absorption of Local
Community in the Commonwealth - Martin Elsky
Pirating Spain: Jonson's Commendatory Poetry and the Translation of Empire - Barbara Fuchs
"Man to man": Self-fashioning in Jonson's "To William Pembroke" - William Kolbrener
Ben Jonson's Poems: Notes on the Ordered Society - Hugh MacLean
"There are no accidents": Ben Jonson's construction of "Poet" - Joshua Messer
"To Penshurst"
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Reinterpreting Formalism and the Country House Poem - Heather Dubrow
Appropriating and Attributing the Supernatural in the Early Modern Country House Poem - A. D. Cousins and
R. J. Webb
From Common Wealth to Commonwealth: the Alchemy of "To Penshurst" - Hugh Jenkins
Sacramental Dwelling with Nature: Jonson's "To Penshurst" and Heidegger's "Building Dwelling
Thinking" - William E. Rogers [.pdf]
Landscape and Property in Seventeenth-Century Poetry - Andrew McRae [.pdf]
Poetry and Place in Drayton and Jonson - Canice J. Egan, S. J. [.pdf]
Ben Jonson and the Good Society - Jeffrey Hart [.pdf]
THE PROSE:
The Prose of Poets: Ben Jonson - Francis Thompson
JONSON & SHAKESPEARE:
Jonson's Ode to Shakespeare: What Was He Actually Saying? - Stephanie Hopkins Hughes[.pdf]
Afterlife: Jonson's "To the Memory... of Shakespeare" - Crystal Bartolovich
Mildmay Fane on Jonson and Shakespeare - Joseph T. Roy, Jr., and Robert C. Evans
Some Uses for Romance: Shakespeare's Cymbeline and Jonson's The New Inn - Andrew Stewart
Emblems of Darkness: Othello (1604) and the Masque of Blackness (1605) - Manuel José Gómez Lara
Disorder in the House of God: Disrupted Worship in Shakespeare and Others - Bruce Boehrer
Ben Jonson and The First Folio - W. Lansdown Goldsworthy
JONSON & THE CLASSICS:
Dissertation: Ben Jonson's Horatian Theory and Plautine Practice - D. Audell Shelburne [.pdf]
Jonson and the Classics - Stephen Dailly
Jonson's Stoic Politics: Lipsius, the Greeks, and the "Speach According to Horace" - Robert C. Evans
Horatian satire in Jonson's "On the Famous Voyage" - Bruce Boehrer](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-27-2048.jpg)
![Jonson, Translation, and Horatian Lyric - Daniel Hooley
Ben Jonson and the 'Traditio Basiorum': Catullan imitation in 'The Forrest' 5 and 6 - Bruce Boehrer
Jonson's Every Man Out and Commentators on Terence - Matthew Steggle
Stoicism and Plain Style in Ben Jonson: An Analysis of Some of His Verse Epistles - José María Pérez
Fernández
"Powdered with Golden Rain": The Myth of Danae in Early Modern Drama - Julie Sanders
Jonson's Volpone and Dante - Christopher Baker and Richard Hart
The Classical Context of Ben Jonson's "other youth" - Bruce Boehrer
JONSON & OTHER AUTHORS:
Erasmus's 'Beggar Talk' and Jonson's Alchemist - Eric Sterling and Robert C. Evans
Jonson, Marlowe, and Epigram 77 - John Baker
Poetry and Place in Drayton and Jonson - Canice J. Egan, S. J. [.pdf]
Writing in Service: Sexual Politics and Class Position in the Poetry of Aemilia Lanyer and Ben Jonson - Ann
Baynes Coiro
'I Exscribe Your Sonnets': Jonson and Lady Mary Wroth - R.E. Pritchard
"But Worth pretends": Discovering Jonsonian Masque in Lady Mary Wroth's Pamphilia to Amphilanthus -
Anita M. Hagerman
"The strangest pageant, fashion'd like a court": John Donne and Ben Jonson to 1600 -- Parallel Lives - William
F. Blissett
Poetomachia and The Early Jonson: The Aesthetics of Topical Satire - David Cope
"Honesty and vulgar praise": The Poet's War and the Literary Field - Edward Gieskes
In the Person of Womankind: Female Persona Poems by Campion, Donne, Jonson - Pamela Coren
Jonson and Carew on Donne: Censure into Praise - John Lyon
Carew's response to Jonson and Donne - Scott Nixon
"By Lucan driv'n about": A Jonsonian Marvell's Lucanic Milton - Andrew Shifflett
'A silenc'st bricke-layer': An Allusion to Ben Jonson in Thomas Middleton's 'Masque.' - Jerzy Limon
Thomas Hobbes in Ben Jonson's 'The King's Entertainment at Welbeck' - A. P. Martinich
A "Double Portion of his Father's Art": Congreve, Dryden, Jonson and
The Drama of Theatrical Succession - Harold Weber
Collaborating with the Forebear: Dryden's Reception of Ben Jonson - Jennifer Brady
The Spanish Match Through the Texts: Jonson, Middleton, and Howell - F. Javier Sánchez Escribano
The Court Drama of Ben Jonson and Calderón - José Manuel González Fernández de Sevilla
Ben Jonson y Cervantes - Yumiko Yamada
Ben Jonson and Cervantes - Yumiko Yamada
GENERAL & MISCELLANEOUS:
T. S. Eliot's 1920 Essay on Ben Jonson
A Study of Ben Jonson - Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-28-2048.jpg)
![Revaluating Ben Jonson - Laurence Raw
Jonson the Master: Stones Well Squared - Fred Inglis
Tradition and Ben Jonson - L. C. Knights
Thesis: The Influence of Ben Jonson upon Ben Jonson - Leona F. Dale [.pdf]
Chapter 1 of Ben Jonson and Possessive Authorship - Joseph Loewenstein [.pdf]
Marking his Place: Ben Jonson's Punctuation - Sara van den Berg
The Poet of Labor: Authorship and Property in the Work of Ben Jonson - Bruce Thomas Boehrer
'Ut Pictura Poesis': Jonson and the Painted Subject - Gary Ettari [.pdf]
Invading Interpreters and Politic Picklocks: Reading Jonson Historically - Ian Donaldson [.pdf]
Ben Jonson and the Jonsonian Afterglow: Imagemes, Avatars, and Literary Reception - Anthony W.
Johnson [.pdf]
Ben Jonson's 1616 Folio: A Revolution in Print? - Lynn S. Meskill [.pdf]
Ben Jonson and His Folio - Clifford Stetner
Jonson and the Motives of Print - Richmond Barbour
Ben Jonson's Head - Jeffrey Masten
Biographical
Biography - Encyclopedia Britannica
Biography - Matt Steggle, Literary Encyclopedia
Biography - Theatre Database
Biography - The Columbia Encyclopedia
Biography - Theatrehistory.com
Biography - Britain Express
Biography - UVictoria
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature
in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Ben Jonson - Ashley H. Thorndike
Ben Jonson’s character and friendships
Early life
Production of Every Man in His Humour
Maturity; Prosperity
Later years
Eminence in letters
Epigrams; The Forest
Underwoods
The Sad Shepherd
Early Plays](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-29-2048.jpg)
![ His Programme of Reform; Every Man in His Humour
Every Man out of His Humour
His Tragedies
Volpone; Epicoene
The Alchemist
Bartholomew Fayre
His later Comedies
His place in Literature
Marston's quarrel with Jonson: Assaults and Counter-assaults - W. Macneile Dixon
End of the quarrel - W. Macneile Dixon
Massinger's literary models: Shakespeare, Fletcher, Jonson - Emil Koeppel
General characteristics of the Jacobean and
Caroline Drama: the central position of Jonson - Rev. Ronald Bayne
The Pupils of Jonson: Nathaniel Field - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Field’s debt to Jonson - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Masque and Pastoral - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Ben Jonson’s Masques - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Rapid increase of dramatic elements in Jonson’s Masques - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Jonson’s later work in this field - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Ben Jonson’s The Sad Shepherd - Rev. Ronald Bayne
Ben Jonson’s Timber - Harold V. Routh
Jacobean and Caroline Criticism. Ben Jonson - J. E. Spingarn
Jonson’s literary“portraits” - J. E. Spingarn
Cavalier Lyrists. Influence of Jonson. - F. W. Moorman
Miscellaneous Metric: Jonson and Others - George Saintsbury
Perceptive Prosody: Jonson and Dryden - George Saintsbury
Images
Title-page of "Eastward Ho" (1605) - Columbia University
Title-page of The Workes of Beniamin Jonson, 1616. [114k]
Title-page of Jonson's Workes, 1640 - University of Sydney
Jonson miniature - Folger Library
Jonson's Signature - Folger Library
Engraving of Jonson from the 1692 Workes - Holloway Pages
Portrait of Jonson - Britannica
Jonson portrait - SAC LitWeb
The Grave of Ben Jonson
The Robert Vaughan portrait of Ben Jonson with an epithet by Dryden [91k]
Title-page of Every Man Out of His Humour, 1600. [54k]
Beardsley's illustration for Volpone,1898. [36k]
Pages from "Every Man Out of his Humour" (1616) - Columbia University
Actor List from "Sejanus, his Fall" - Columbia University
Title-page of Tragedies and Comedies (1633) [33k]
Inigo Jones: House of Fame Set Drawing [51k]
Oberon's Palace from "The Masque of Oberon"
Oberon's Palace from "The Masque of Oberon" (image 2) [231k]
Inigo Jones: Oberon from "The Masque of Oberon" [69k]
Satyrs and Fays from "The Masque of Oberon" [164k]
Inigo Jones: Female masquer [203k]
Inigo Jones: Male masquer [138k]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-30-2048.jpg)
![Inigo Jones Costume Plate from "Masque of Queens" [96k]
Inigo Jones: Daughter of Niger from "Masque of Blackness" (1605) [91k]
On Volpone
Study Questions forVolpone - Prof. Philip Mitchell
Study guide to Volpone - Prof. Theresa M. DiPasquale
Notes on Volpone - Prof. Arnie Sanders
Monstrous Characters in Volpone - Dr. Desmet, UGA
Discussion of Monsters in Volpone - English 434/ Dr. Desmet, UGA
Venice in Volpone - Jason
Miscellaneous
List of Jonson's Works - David Lewis
The Ben Jonson Journal
Study guide to Masque of Blacknesse - Theresa M. DiPasquale
Money Jonson - Jennifer W. Spirko
SAC LitWeb Jonson Page - Roger Blackwell Bailey
The Ben Jonson page - Matt Steggle
Oberon: Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones - UVictoria
Indigo "To Penshurst" - Prof. Clare Kinney
The Alchemy of Human Relations in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist - Dr. Desmet, UGA
The Alchemy of Human Relations in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist (PartII) - Dr. Desmet, UGA
On Jonson and Bacon - Martin Pares
On the presentation of The Masque of Beauty
Information on the Vaughan portrait
Herrick's poems on Ben Jonson
Carew's To Ben Jonson Upon Occasion of His Ode of Defiance
Frank's Creative Quotations from Ben Jonson
The Ben Jonson Journal
First Volume of "The Ben Jonson Journal" Published
A Digital Catalogue of Watermarks and Type Ornaments Used by WilliamStansby
in the Printing of THE WORKES OF BENIAMIN JONSON (London, 1616)
A Student's Bibliography for Jonson - Southwest Texas Community College
To buy a book from Amazon.com (US) just click on the title.
To buy a book from Amazon.co.uk (UK) use link under description (if available).
Biographical
Ben Jonson : A Life
by David Riggs
Paperback Reprint edition](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-31-2048.jpg)
![Bibliographical
Ben Jonson : A Quadricentennial Bibliography,
Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Seven Thru Nineteen
Hundred and Seventy-Two
by Dewey Heyward Brock
Hardcover
Scarecrow Pr, July 1974
Other
Critical Essays on Ben Jonson
(Critical Essays on British Literature)
by Robert N. Watson (Editor)
Hardcover
G K Hall, November 1997
"The essays are written by distinguished
commentators at both ends of the chrono-logical
range, from the 16th to the 20th
centuries. Together they provide the best
early case study of English literary
criticism." —Amazon.com
Full Description
Ben Jonson's Antimasques : A History of Growth and Decline
by Lesley Mickel
Hardcover
Ashgate Publishing Company; March 1999
"[D]iscusses in detail those court entertainments which
contributed significantly to the genre's evolution and
development. Her approach is innovative in that she
examines these works in relation to Jonson's poetry
and dramatic works. This reveals some idea of the way
in which Jonson perceived the relationship between
satire and panegyric, as well as highlighting the related,
if oppositional, views of state power which he expresses
in the Roman plays and in the masques."
—Amazon.co.uk
Full Description
Table of Contents
Order it from Amazon.co.uk
Jonson and the Contexts of His Time
by Robert C. Evans
Hardcover
Bucknell Univ Pr, May 1994
"By examining specific works, particular
historical circumstances, and complex](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/asongtoselia-141124090445-conversion-gate01/75/A-song-to-selia-36-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byJehiaochin Balawan
A song to selia
- The poem "To Celia" expresses a man's deep love and devotion for a woman named Celia through the use of metaphors and symbols. - He compares his love for her to drinking wine or Jove's nectar, suggesting it intoxicates and sustains him. When she returns a wreath of roses he gave her, it shows she does not return his feelings. - However, the man remains hopeful and persistent in his love, promising it will continue to grow like the roses and always be tied to her.
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Similar to A song to selia
A song to selia
- 1. Analysis | Critique| Overview Below According to my own analysis, billions of people all over the world receive the business loans from good creditors. Thence, there's good possibilities to receive a sba loan in every country. From my own personal point of view other than the ones whose understanding is better than mine, “A Song to Celia” is a poem that conveys none but an intense affection of a man to a woman whose name is Celia… The author uses wine metaphorically to suggest that he is falling madly, deeply in love with Celia. Wine is used to compare his deep love with Celia suggesting the overall tone that when a man is heavily drank, the more the taste of the wine gets sweeter and sweeter until everything else unknowingly slipped away in a moment. Like love, it’s getting more intense day by day making it immeasurable through times… Furthermore, the man in the poem exudes optimism, perseverance and persistence that he became courageous and bold with his feelings, though at the end Celia did not dare pay him attention at all (taking her sending the roses back to the courting man as a proof of dislike and distaste). The author even used Jove’s nectar to compare Celia’s sweetness as a woman… but he says, he won’t dare give in taking goddess sweetness over Celia’s...for the latter is incomparable and no other woman can equate the feelings that he has for her… In the end the courting man found himself hopelessly devoted to Celia but he promised that his love will still grow eternally like the lovely roses that propagate and do not perish. (by recaphe) | Posted on 2011-11-21 | by a guest hey guys,, i think this poem is so close to sixthenth poem.the lady acts just like she does in courtly love poetry.she is creul because she hurts the speaker whi ch really loves her.and if it is not like 16thC. then she doesn't love the speaker because it is about love and i think we simply forgive the one we love. Aneta kurdi To Celia is a love poem with a simple four line rhyme scheme (abcbabcb), written in first person. The over all tone of the poem is dreamy, optimistic, persistent, and gullibly innocent. The rhythm is smooth, and pensive, and seems to fall into an iambic pentameter. The poem gives the reader an intimate sense of this man’s love, and obsession for the woman of his desire, Celia. I interpreted this poem as having a theme of lost love. I imagined that Celia is his ex-lover, he still is in love with her, and wants her to come back to him. In the first stanza, the strong feelings he has for her are expressed metaphorically by comparing his love to drinking wine, and Jove’s Nectar, an elixir for immortality. He is intoxicated by her, and can’t live without her. In the first line â€oeDrink to me, only with thine eyes And I will pledge with mine―, he is asking Celia to look at him with her eyes, and tell him she still loves him, he will in turn promise himself to her. â€oeOr leave a kiss but in the cup And I'll not look for wine― meaning If that is too much to ask, at least show him in some way that she still cares for him, and that will as least satisfy him. â€oeThe thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine―, the desire and love he has for her is burning deep inside of him, and he needs her. â€oeBut might I of Jove's nectar sup I would not change for thine―, meaning he cannot live without her. If he were given the gift of immortality, he would not take it just to be with her. A wreath is a symbol of eternity, in the second stanza, he expresses eternal love for her by metaphorically comparing it to the rosy wreath. I believe the wreath also may represent an apology. In the first line of the second stanza, â€oeI sent thee late a rosy wreath Not so much honoring thee―, I believe he is talking about the mistakes he made. He used the word late, implying that he was too late showing her his eternal love for her, and is now not able to have her, honoring being another word for having. â€oeAs giving it a hope that there It could not withered be―, he is telling her he loves her hoping their love is not lost. â€oeBut thou thereon didst only breath And sent'st it back to me―, she doesn’t want to listen to him anymore, takes a deep breath or sigh, and does not accept his apology. â€oeSince, when it grows and smells, I swear, Not of itself but thee―, No matter what happens, I will always love you, and a piece of you will always be with me. Some techniques used in this poem are Alliteration, the use of metaphors, personification, irony, hyperbole, and possibly allegory. Alliteration can be identified in this poem by the words that are stressed such as
- 2. (highlighted in greenabove) in the first stanza, stresses are placed on Drink, cup, kiss, and divine. Metaphors were used to describe his love for Celia, such as drinking the wine, the elixir of eternal life, and the rosy wreath. Personification is used in personifying Celia’s eyes, as if they could speak, and the thirst takes on a human quality of rising, and asking for a drink. I thought irony was present when Celia sent the wreath back, or denied his apology. The man disregarded this action, and continued with his protest of love for her. I think hyperbole was used a lot in this poem. For example the entire poem seems to be a hyperbole. It is extremely exaggerated, and in particular, the lines â€oeBut might I of Jove's nectar sup I would not change for thine―, and â€oeSince, when it grows and smells, I swear, Not of itself but thee.― The images are unrealistic, and cannot be taken literally. I thought allegory can be identified in this poem, because if you read through the poem once, you may just interpret a man courting a woman, and the woman literally returning his gift to him, not acknowledging him. However I felt that these two people were at once very close. They loved each other, and the man did something that caused them to break up. He still is madly in love with her, and would do anything to get her back. He apologizes to her, but it is not enough. The literal meaning is obvious, but the symbolic meaning of the poets word choices lead to my interpretation. I believe three main important concepts that influence the entire poems message would be word choice, tone, and symbols. Word choice is important in this poem, because the words used give the reader a detailed understanding of what the poet is trying to say. The words also create the imagery of the poem, and set up the meaning of the symbols used throughout. For example the whole first stanza is surrounded by words that are related to drinking wine, such as drink, cup, wine, thirst, and nectar. The words make it easy for the reader to determine that he is comparing the love he has for Celia to drinking wine, and the nectar of Jove’s. Her love is intoxicating, and worth more than anything to him. In the second stanza, the word choice I noticed was more important. The words late, rosy wreath, honouring, withered, breath, grows, smell, and swear, to me all had in depth meaning. For example late lead me to believe he had made a mistake. Rosy wreath suggested eternal love, and an apology. Honouring took on the meaning of having. Withered reminded me of dyeing, and lost love. Breath implied her presence, and disapproval. Grows, tells the reader that his love for her has only gotten stronger. Smell implies a sense of lingering, as if her essence is still all around him. Swear implies a promise to oneself, and he promises to always love her. The tone of the poem I described as dreamy, optimistic, persistent, and gullibly innocent. I think this tone is important in getting the poets mood across to the reader. The rhythm of the poem contributes to the tone because it is smooth and pensive. The poem is read in a smooth whimsical way, and slightly imploring. I thought it was dreamy because of the flowery language used, and the whimsical way it read through. Optimistic because he is hopeful that Celia still loves him, persistent, because he goes into length describing his love, and gullibly innocent, because even though it is clear Celia wants nothing to do with him anymore, he still holds onto the love he has for her. The symbols I thought were interesting, and really led me to discovering an underlying meaning to this poem. Examples of the symbol used in this poem are the eyes, Jove’s Nectar, the rosy wreath, and Celia’s breath. When the poet opens with mentioning thine eyes, it symbolizes that they are close, and he knows what she is feeling without her speaking. The eyes create intimacy in the poem. Jove’s Nectar symbolizes immortality, and his love. His love will never die for her. The rosy wreath symbolizes eternity, on how he will love her forever, and also I believe the wreath serves as a symbol for the apology he is giving her. Celia’s breath symbolizes her release from him. She does not take him in, but exhales. This symbolizes her rejecting him. I think these symbols were very influential in the way I interpreted this poem. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this poem, and digging into its underlying meaning. At first I found the language very hard to follow, and read it so many times I now have it memorized. I researched other people’s thoughts online, and realized that I had taken a different perspective on the poem compared to other reviews. I always find it interesting to see how differently people think, and how the meanings of these poems take life in the individual depending on their own experiences. By Cathy Zapata
- 3. Hi! we cannotsay that one's analysis is wrong,,because you cannot define its meaning in one package. The meaning of any literary piece, be it a poem or anything, depends on the reader's perception and present mood or emotion.. I'll say based on my own understanding, that this is about a man so captivated by a woman's beauty.That his passion for her will last for a long time, i just don't know for sure until when. When the woman sent the flower back, who (aside from the writer himself that had been long buried and lying down the earth for 3 centuries)can tell what it means? There are numerous reasons and nobody can guess, like when will Jesus would go down here and wipe out all bad dudes..See? there are no definite answer to "what does it means?" It depends on the reader's perception and there are no wrong answers. -To the one who posted saying- "Obviously,you are all wrong!"-- please, stop actin' like a real smart-assed!!! song to celia is about a man courting a lady where in he give roses but celia reject it so the man plant the rose and celia appreaciate the rose (If you have not read the post below this one, then please do in order to understand this clarification). Sorry, but I forgot to clarify two things. First, I meant to add that there is a progression from his focus on the woman's body parts, from romantic to sexual. This focus on her body can be seen by the Jove's nector and how he would GIVE UP IMMORTALITY, obviously expressing something sneaky is going on. Also with cavalier poetry can be the reference to quickly enjoying the short life that humans live, which can be seen by the speaker giving up on living eternally by the nector which brings a light of realism that humans don't live forever, so enjoy it while you can. The second part that needs clarifying is the wreath of roses. Remember, the poets audience is women, and a rose is extremely desireful in a relationship. However, men's desire is something with a hole in it similar to the hole in the wreath. This suggests how he is trying to give her sex (offering the roses). However, she rejects them, giving this womanly hole only her scent (the refusal is basically keeping her virginity, the poet's main message). Obviously, you are all wrong (except the Jove guy). If you notice the structure of the poem, you can see that he goes from just the eyes, to the mouth, and then eventually (with the reference to Jove's nector) her body which he describes as more beautiful then a goddess. Also to note are the constant stresses of action imagery, as he does not go into detailed descriptions of the parts of her body expressing a very general statement. These "general descriptions" and specific actions (which anyone can perform such as looking dreamily into one's eyes or choosing the girl over the nector) along with a lack of even stating Celia in the poem show's how the Speaker (not the Poet) may have used this poem to more than one woman. Yes, he is trying to express how he wants to madly love her (in the sense of sex), as is the main conflict of many cavalier poetry. However, this is not the authorial intent that cavalier poets desire. The poets authorial intent is actually a message to women in general, to watch out for sly men, which can be seen in this poem by the rejection of his rosy wreaths (any symbolic references to a hole that permanently has her scent on it?), which suggests that she did not want to have sex with a guy who truly did not love her. Many cavalier poets write with this intent to try to warn women against such fluffy language, as can best be seen in the poem "To His Coy Mistress". To prove how powerful and fluffy such language actually is can be seen by many of the earlier comments on how "I think it's a very sweet poem" or "what a beautiful love poem", expressing how women even in this modern age are fooled by man's true intent! Also, this was analyzed by a 16 year old AP English Student. (All of these ideas confirmed by my english teacher and many other cavalier poetry lessons, which I got an A on). what does "drink" and "pledge" with eyes mean in this poem
- 4. this is agood poem i like it but not so much on the part when she sends him back the flowers she should of kept them i would if i was her;] by:melissa aka molly dolly this is a good poem i like it but not so much on the part when she sends him back the flowers she should of kept them i would if i was her;] by:melissa aka molly dolly I see this poem in a different sense. I do not see it as romantic or compassionate but slightly psychotic. He talks about committing to her, and yet he has only just set eyes upon her across the room. She sends the flower back, relaying the fact that she is not interested and yet all he notices is it now has her breath on it. She may not have even intended to breathe on it but he looks past this and sees it as a clear sign his feelings are reciprocated back to him from her. As the courtly tradition she is probably already married which could back up why she sent the gift back. When i read this poem i just get the image of a man trying to hold the attention of a woman he is attracted to across the room, and she is politely declining his offers. He never states anything she does back to him. I just fail to see the romantic side to it. This is a very sweet poem and it is my favourite too In this poenm speaker is expressing his deep feelings and love for Celia,He wants the faithful love from his frind tht's why he said" Drink to me with thine eyes and i will pledge with mine"He does not want to exchange his glass of wine with jove's nector cup i.e the roman god (Jupitor) Jove's nector or the drink of god,Speaker would give up the drink of the god for a drink from a cup which her lips merely have touched, but it’s not wine he searches for. He simply wishes for his lovers love. Then He sends her “a rosy wreath.He send them to devote her that they would not withered their and remains fresh, but she send it back to him after breathing and since than roses are giving the smell of his friend.Such a nice poem.charming tribute of love that age of love poems. speaker has deep and compelling love for his love celia that he is willing to give up anything in particular in exchange for Celia's compassion and love This is a very sweet poem and it is my favourite too In this poenm speaker is expressing his deep feelings and love for Celia,He wants the faithful love from his frind tht's why he said" Drink to me with thine eyes and i will pledge with mine"He does not want to exchange his glass of wine with jove's nector cup i.e the roman god (Jupitor) Jove's nector or the drink of god,Speaker would give up the drink of the god for a drink from a cup which her lips merely have touched, but it’s not wine he searches for. He simply wishes for his lovers love. Then He sends her “a rosy wreath.He send them to devote her that they would not withered their and remains fresh, but she send it back to him after breathing and since than roses are giving the smell of his friend.Such a nice poem.charming tribute of love that age of love poems. speaker has deep and compelling love for his love celia that he is willing to give up anything in particular in exchange for Celia's compassion and love my analysis for this poem is that the speaker has deep and compelling love for Celia that he is willing to give up anything in particular in exchange for Celia's compassion and love. He had attempted to court her by sending her roses but unfortunately Celia declines his offer and sent it back to him. But when the roses was returnde, it no longer smell like it did but now it posess the fragrance and smell of thy beloved Celia. This love
- 5. poem gives anoverview to men that feels and experiences exactly the same way to the speaker. In this case, the speaker failed in his ever-flaming love for Celia. Just like most men do. No offense guyz..but it is a fact.. -cezenne japson Love is foolishness, logic defied. For you, Tales 'f two cities 's a whine ? Pierre ppplll Has anyone thought that this could have been a woman? Maybe that is why the wreath was sent back? What is masculine about the writing? Wine? Considering that most poems give of some context clues about gender, this one is a little different. It is very sappy, and unlike other love poems. I hope everyone knows that person is completely WRONG. The speaker is not choosing the woman over WINE. He is choosing her over the gift of immortality. Jove (also called Jupiter)is the chief god in Roman mythology. "Jove's nectar," or the drink of the gods, gave immortality to those who drank it. So, either the speaker is choosing his love over immortalit or the implication could be that his love gives him immortality. Okay, I'm glad I'm 16 years old and have to explain this to you. “Song: To Celia,” by Ben Johnson (1573-1637) is a simple love song from a man to a woman. He is totally captivated by her and would give up anything just to drink from the same cup as her. He sent Celia a bouquet of roses, but she returns them. However when he receives them back, the roses smell of her. This literary work has been written if first person. The speaker refers to himself multiple times as he speaks of actions that he will carry out. His tone is dreamy with a wisp of yearning. The speaker is caught up in his emotions and is unable to clearly see reality. He can’t clearly show how he feels, so he speaks with symbols that are metaphors to the way he truly feels. The whole first stanza represents his feelings for Celia through the simple task of drinking wine. The thirst is the same for every man. The lust for a woman and calming the fear of being alone. The structure of the poem is lyrical, with couplets that have the second line rhyming with a -ine in the first stance and a -e in the second. This adds to the rhythm and helps organize the speakers thoughts, giving the poem structure. In the first line the speaker personifies Celia’s eyes like telling her to “Drink only to me with thine eyes” continuing the personification by saying he “will pledge with mine.” The speaker wants Celia to give in to him and his wants, but he promises to be faithful to her. The man is madly in love and speaks in enigmatize. His words don’t make sense to a logical mind, but love is not of the mind. It is from the heart. . He “ask a drink divine” to quench the “thirst that from the soul doth rise.” Continuing with his riddle, he explains his flow of thoughts rather cryptically when he states “might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not change for thine.” Simply through this allusion to the Roman gods, this man would give up the drink of the for a drink from a cup her lips merely have touched, but it’s not wine he searches for. He simply wishes for Celia’s love. The author illustrates the man’s situation through a hyperbole. It has been greatly over exaggerated, and this man’s emotions are obviously not grounded and rational. The second stanza begins with an attempt to court the beloved Celia. He sends her “a rosy wreath.” He doesn’t devote it to her because it can’t compare with her. Even when she
- 6. returns it, hispassion doesn’t allow him to see reality. He swears that the rose smells “not of itself, but thee.” This analogy creates a paradox. The rose, which the man previously stated could not compare with Celia, now smells of her. This man has become another victim of the love bug. While reading this poem, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disgusted. This man has allowed himself to become consumed with his passion. He has abandoned the logic, and even though he has been rejected, he holds on to a lost cause. I also felt slightly envious. The feelings this man must be feeling must be strong and compelling. He is stubborn and determined, but, overall, he still disappoints me. He shows weakness in character by not simply confronting her. Women did not, and still do not approve of men who cannot follow the proper courting rituals. This man still has some growing up to do, and he needs to do it fast before he gets his heart destroyed. Post your Analysis Most common keywords Song To Celia - II Analysis Ben Jonson critical analysis of poem, review school overview. Analysis of the poem. literary terms. Definition terms. Why did he use? short summary describing. Song To Celia - II Analysis Ben Jonson Characters archetypes. Sparknotes bookrags the meaning summary overview critique of explanation online education meaning metaphors symbolism characterization itunes. Quick fast explanatory summary. pinkmonkey free cliffnotes cliffnotes ebook pdf doc file essay summary literary terms analysis professional definition summary synopsis sinopsis interpretation critique Song To Celia - II Analysis Ben Jonson itunes audio book mp4 mp3 NOTES Ben Johnson wrote numerous songs. "Song to Celia" is an example of carpe diem poetry, as it reminds the reader to live and love since time and youth are fleeting. This concept can be traced to Roman classics, as in Horace's line, "Seize the day, trust tomorrow as little as possible." Jonson's classical form in "Song to Celia" owes much to the classic poets of Rome and Greece. For example, the rhyme scheme is the classical abcbabcb. Also note that "Song to Celia" is a very skillful poetic treatment of quotations from the love letters of the Greek writer, Philostratus.
- 7. Compare the openinglines of the first stanza of "Song to Celia" with Philostratus's Letter XXIV, "Drink to me with thine eyes only. Or, if thou wilt, putting the cup to thy lips, fill it with kisses, and so bestow it upon me." Compare the opening lines of the second stanza with Letter XXX, "I sent thee a rosy wreath, not so much honouring thee (though this also is in my thoughts) as bestowing favour upon the roses, that so they might not be withered." The poet Lady Mary Wroth is probably the Celia to whom "Song to Celia" is dedicated. Ben Jonson was born about 1573 and died in 1637. He was England's third Poet Laureate from 1619 to 1637. Although Ben Jonson is best known for his plays, his poetry had a significant impact on seventeenth-century poets and has come to be as highly regarded as that of his contemporary William Shakespeare. Edmund Gosse, in The Jacobean Poets, concludes that Jonson was "rewarded by the passionate devotion of a tribe of wits and scholars . . . and he enjoys the perennial respect of all close students of poetry." Jonson's lyric ballad "Song: To Celia" is his most beloved and anthologized poem. Soon after its publication, it was put to music by an anonymous composer, after which it became a popular song in public houses. "Song: To Celia" was included in the book The Forest, published in 1616. It appears in the sixth edition of The Norton Anthology of English Literature (1993). Jonson's "Song: To Celia" is a short monologue in which a lover addresses his lady in an effort to encourage her to express her love for him. Jonson includes conventional imagery, such as eyes, roses, and wine, but employs them in inventive ways. As a result, the poem becomes a lively, expressive song extolling the immortality of love. John Addington Symonds, in his 1886 study of Jonson, calls the poem a masterpiece in its "purely lyric composition" and individuality. He concludes that Jonson's lyrics "struck the key-note of the seventeenth century." Song: To Celia Summary Lines 1–4 The speaker in "Song: To Celia" opens with a plea for his lady to express her love by gazing upon him. His plea is assertive, in the form of a command to drink to him with her eyes. He wants more than an expression of her love, however; he wants a pledge. He notes this in the second line when he declares that he will return the pledge with his own eyes. The reference to the cup that is commonly filled with wine becomes an apt metaphor for what he is asking from his lady. One usually makes a toast, a pledge of some sort, when first sipping a cup of wine. The speaker wants his lady to make a pledge to him with her eyes rather than while drinking from a cup of wine. This pledge would be more personal and so more meaningful to him. By suggesting that his lady could convey such a pledge through her gaze, he pays tribute to her expressive eyes. He suggests that their connection is so intimate that they do not need the words of a speech to communicate their feelings for each other. This act reflects medieval love conventions, which propose that love is received through the eyes. When the speaker gives his lady an alternative way to express her love, he suggests that she may be reluctant to do so. Leaving a kiss in the cup would allow her to respond to him in a more modest manner. This alternative, he states, would be just as pleasing to him. When he insists that he will "not look for wine," he
- 8. implies that herkiss will intoxicate him more than any alcohol could. Wine would be an inadequate replacement for her love. Jonson smoothly integrates the images of eyes, drinking, and wine in these first lines, which reinforces and heightens his speaker's expression of love and longing. Initially, the metaphor of drinking with one's eyes seems too forced, yet eyes produce liquid and can "brim over" with tears of sadness or joy. This liquidity, rather than that of wine, becomes the speaker's preferred method of demonstration. The image of the kiss also integrates smoothly with the... » Complete Song: To Celia Summary Source: Poetry for Students, ©2012 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved Song to Celia ("Drink to me only with thine eyes") In A Nutshell In 1616 Ben Jonson published the first collected edition of his works. The collection included a number of Jonson's plays (he was a contemporary of Shakespeare's, and relatively well-known playwright at the time) as well as a short collection of poems called The Forest. Among the fifteen poems that comprise The Forest are two poems called "Song to Celia" (maybe he liked the name?) of which the second (titled "IX") is the more famous. Now, nobody is quite sure who Celia was, but some speculate that she was a fellow poet and close friend of Ben Jonson's named Lady Mary Wroth (she was married to a guy that Jonson didn't really like). Jonson praised her directly in his poem "Sonnet to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth" and indirectly in a poem called "To Penshurst," which celebrates a country estate where she spent a lot of time as a child. Ben Jonson was quite the classicist; he knew his Greek and Latin pretty well, and he loved to display his book smarts. "To Celia" is a perfect, if not immediately obvious, example of Jonson's prodigious learning. Large parts of "To Celia" are loose translations of or close parallels of the love letters of an ancient writer named Philostratus. Who? Yeah, he's a pretty obscure writer. Jonson borrowed substantially from letters XXIV, XXV, XXX, and XXXI to build what is one of his most anthologized poems. Why Should I Care? Can you think of something that you really, really love? Maybe you love a type of food (fries with mayo?) or a celeb (gaga for Lady Gaga?) or a hobby (button collecting?). Have you ever found yourself trying to explain to someone else the depth of your love? It can be hard, especially when you're trying to convince someone who isn't really as enthusiastic. It can also be difficult because, frankly, our most powerful emotions are often super hard to express. "To Celia" is partly about this difficulty, or about the ways in which we try to verbalize – to put into words – our passion. The speaker uses a lot of drinking imagery in an attempt to explain his love for Celia. He calls his feelings a "thirst that from the soul doth rise" (5), in an effort to describe how his desire, and love, for Celia are something his body needs to survive. (Starting to sound like a vampire, isn't he?) Think back to the things you love. Maybe you, too, consider them necessities (like food and water). The metaphor is a little weird – love is like a thirst for something? – but that just points to the difficulty of
- 9. expressing our emotions.It's like powerful emotions are almost spiritual, and the soul just doesn't play by the rules of vocabulary. That doesn't mean you should give it a shot, though. Go ahead. You know you want to write a poem called "To Fries with Mayo." But be sure to check out "To Celia" first. You might learn a thing or two from Ben Jonson on how to express your passion in words. Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson, CM OOnt (born December 30, 1961 in Falmouth, Jamaica), is a former sprinter from Canada, who enjoyed a high-profile career during most of the 1980s, winning two Olympic bronze medals and an Olympic gold, which was subsequently rescinded. He set consecutive 100 metres world records at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics, but he was disqualified for doping, losing the Olympic title and both records. Biography Career background Born in Falmouth, Jamaica, Johnson emigrated to Canada in 1976, residing in Scarborough, Ontario. Johnson met coach Charlie Francis and joined the Scarborough Optimists track and field club, training at York University. Francis was a Canadian 100 metres sprint champion himself (1970, 1971 and 1973) and a member of the Canadian team for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Francis was also Canada's national sprint coach for nine years. Johnson's first international success came when he won two silver medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. He finished behind Allan Wells of Scotland in the 100 m with a time of 10.05 seconds and was a member of the Canadian 4x100 m relay team. This success was not repeated at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where he was eliminated in the semi-finals, finishing 6th with a time of 10.44. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he reached the 100 m final; after false starting, he won the bronze medal behind Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy with a time of 10.22. He also won a bronze medal with the Canadian 4x100 m relay team of Johnson, Tony Sharpe, Desai Williams and Sterling Hinds, who ran a time of 38.70. By the end of the 1984 season, Johnson had established himself as Canada's top sprinter, and on August 22 in Zurich, Switzerland, he bettered Williams' Canadian record of 10.17 by running 10.12. In 1985, after eight consecutive losses, Johnson finally beat Carl Lewis. Other success against Lewis included the 1986 Goodwill Games, where Johnson beat Lewis, running 9.95 for first place, against Lewis' third-place time of 10.06. He broke Houston McTear's seven-year old world record in the 60 metres in 1986, with a time of 6.50 seconds.[1] He also won Commonwealth gold at the 1986 games in Edinburgh, beating Linford Christie for the 100 m title with a time of 10.07. Johnson also led the Canadian 4x100 m relay team to gold, and won a bronze in the 200 m. On April 29, 1987, Johnson was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. "World record holder for the indoor 60-meter run, this Ontarian has proved himself to be the world's fastest human being and has broken Canadian, Commonwealth and World Cup 100-meter records," it read. "Recipient of the Norton Crowe Award for Male Athlete of the Year for 1985, 'Big Ben' was the winner of the 1986 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete." By the time of the 1987 World Championships, Johnson had won his four previous races with Lewis and had established himself as the best 100 m sprinter. At Rome, Johnson gained instant world fame and confirmed this
- 10. status when hebeat Lewis for the title, setting a new world record of 9.83 seconds as well, beating Calvin Smith's former record by a full tenth of a second. After Rome, Johnson became a lucrative marketing celebrity. According to coach Charlie Francis, after breaking the world record, Johnson earned about $480,000 a month in endorsements.[2] Johnson won both the Lou Marsh Trophy and Lionel Conacher Award, and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1987. Following Johnson's defeat of Lewis in Rome, Lewis started trying to explain away his defeat. He first claimed that Johnson had false-started, then he alluded to a stomach virus which had weakened him. Finally, without naming names, Lewis said "There are a lot of people coming out of nowhere. I don’t think they are doing it without drugs." This was the start of Lewis’ calling on the sport of track and field to be cleaned up in terms of the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. While cynics noted that the problem had been in the sport for many years, they pointed out that it didn’t become a cause for Lewis until he was actually defeated, with some also pointing to Lewis's egotistical attitude and lack of humility. During a controversial interview with the BBC, Lewis said:[3] There are gold medallists at this meet who are on drugs, that [100 metres] race will be looked at for many years, for more reasons than one. Johnson's response was: When Carl Lewis was winning everything, I never said a word against him. And when the next guy comes along and beats me, I won’t complain about that either. This set up the rivalry leading into the 1988 Olympic Games. In 1988, Johnson experienced a number of setbacks to his running career. In February of that year he pulled a hamstring, and in May he aggravated the same injury. Meanwhile in Paris in June, Lewis ran a 9.99. Then in Zurich, Switzerland on August 17, the two faced each other for the first time since the 1987 World Championships, Lewis won in 9.93, while Johnson finished third in 10.00. "The gold medal for the (Olympic) 100 meters is mine," Carl Lewis said. "I will never again lose to Johnson."[3] Olympic win and subsequent disqualification On September 24, 1988, Johnson beat Lewis in the 100m final at the Olympics, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds. Johnson would later remark that he would have been even faster had he not raised his hand in the air just before he finished the race.[4] However, Johnson's urine samples were found to contain stanozolol, and he was disqualified three days later. He later admitted having used steroids when he ran his 1987 world record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well. Johnson and coach Francis complained that they used doping in order to remain on an equal footing with the other top athletes on drugs they had to compete against. In testimony before the Dubin inquiry into drug use, Francis charged that Johnson was only one of many cheaters, and he just happened to get caught. Later, five of the finalists of the 100-meter race tested positive for banned drugs or were implicated in a drug scandal at some point in their careers: Carl Lewis, who was given the gold medal, Linford Christie, who was moved up to the silver medal and who went on to win gold at the next Games, Dennis Mitchell, who was moved up to fourth place and finished third to Christie in 1992, and Desai Williams, Johnson's countryman who won a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.[5] Johnson's coach, Charlie Francis, a vocal critic of the IOC testing procedures, is the author of Speed Trap, which features Johnson heavily. In the book, he freely admits that his athletes were taking anabolic steroids, as
- 11. he claims alltop athletes at the time were, and also claims that Johnson could not possibly have tested positive for that particular steroid since Johnson actually preferred furazabol. He thought stanozolol made his body "feel tight".[6] The Canadian reaction to 9.79 seconds Canadians rejoiced in the reflected glory of winning the gold medal and breaking the world record. Newspapers covered the occasion by concocting words such as "Benfastic" (Toronto Star, September 25, 1988) to describe it. Two days later, Canadians witnessed the downfall of Johnson, when he was stripped of his gold medal and world record. In the first week following the dethroning, Canadian newspapers devoted between five to eight pages a day to the story. Some squarely placed the blame on Johnson, such as one headline right after the exposure suggests: "Why, Ben?" (Toronto Sun, September 26, 1988). Because of the Olympic scandal, The Canadian news agency, Canadian Press, named Johnson "Newsmaker of the Year" for 1988. The Dubin Inquiry After the Seoul test, he initially denied doping, but, testifying before the 1989 Dubin Inquiry, a Canadian government investigation into drug abuse, Johnson admitted that he had lied. Charlie Francis, his coach, told the inquiry that Johnson had been using steroids since 1981. In Canada, the federal government established the Commission of Inquiry Into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance, headed by Ontario Appeal Court Chief Justice Charles Dubin. The Dubin Inquiry (as it became known), which was televised live, heard hundreds of hours of testimony about the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs among athletes. The inquiry began in January 1989 and lasted 91 days, with 122 witnesses called, including athletes, coaches, sport administrators, IOC representatives, doctors and government officials. Comeback In 1991, after his suspension ended, he attempted a comeback. He returned to the track for the Hamilton Indoor Games in 1991 and was greeted by the largest crowd to ever attend an indoor Canadian track and field event. More than 17,000 people saw him finish second in the 50 metres in 5.77 seconds. He failed to qualify for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo but made the Canadian Olympic team again in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain after finishing second at the Canadian Olympic trials to Bruny Surin.[7] He missed the 100 metre finals at the Olympics however, finishing last in his semi-final heat after stumbling out of the blocks. In 1993, he won the 50 metres on February 7 in Grenoble, France, in 5.65 seconds, just 0.04 seconds shy of the world record. However in January 1993, he was found guilty of doping at a race in Montreal - this time for excess testosterone - and was subsequently banned for life by the IAAF. Federal amateur sport minister Pierre Cadieux called Johnson a national disgrace, and suggested he consider moving back to Jamaica. Johnson commented that it was "by far the most disgusting comment [he had] ever heard."[8] In April 1999, a Canadian adjudicator ruled that there were procedural errors in Johnson's lifetime ban and allowed him to appeal. The decision meant Johnson could technically run in Canada but nobody would compete against him. They would be considered "contaminated" by the IAAF and could also face sanctions. On June 12, 1999, Johnson entered a track meet in Kitchener, Ontario, and was forced to run alone, against the clock. He posted a time of 11.0 seconds. In late 1999, Johnson failed a drug test for the third time by testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a
- 12. banned diuretic thatcan be used to mask the presence of other drugs. Johnson had not competed since 1993 and had arranged the test himself as part of his efforts to be reinstated. Al-Saadi Gaddafi training stint In 1999, Johnson made headlines again when it was revealed that he had been hired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to act as a football coach for his son, Al-Saadi Gaddafi, who aspired to join an Italian football club. Al- Saadi ultimately did join an Italian team but was sacked after one game when he failed a drug test. Johnson's publicist in Canada had predicted in The Globe and Mail that his training of the young Gaddafi would earn Johnson a Nobel Peace Prize. Late 1990s and beyond Johnson briefly acted as trainer for Argentine football legend Diego Maradona in 1997. This occurred at York University, Toronto.[9] In 1998, Johnson appeared in a charity race in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he raced against a thoroughbred race horse, a harness racing horse and a stock car.[10] Johnson finished third in the race. According to a 1998 article in Outside magazine, Johnson spent much of the latter part of the 1990s living downstairs in the house he shared with his mother Gloria. He spent his leisure time reading, watching movies and Roadrunner cartoons, and taking his mother to church. He lived in a spacious home in Newmarket, Ontario's Stonehaven neighborhood. He claims to have lost his Ferrari when he used it as collateral for a loan from an acquaintance in order to make a house payment.[11] Gloria died of cancer in 2004 and Johnson lived with his sister afterwards. Shortly after his leaving Libya, it was reported that Johnson had been robbed of $7,300 by a Romany gang in Rome. His wallet was taken, containing $7,300 in cash, the proceeds of his pay for training Gaddafi. Johnson gave chase, but was unable to catch them after they vanished into a subway station.[12] In May 2005, Johnson launched a clothing and sports supplement line, the Ben Johnson Collection. The motto for Johnson's clothing line was "Catch Me"; however, the clothing line never took off.[13] In a January 1, 2006 interview, [14] Johnson claimed that he was sabotaged by a "Mystery Man"[15] inside the doping-control room immediately following the 100m final in Seoul. He also stated that 40% of people in the sports world are still taking drugs to improve their performance. In March 2006, television spots featuring Johnson advertising an energy drink, "Cheetah Power Surge", started to receive some airtime. Some pundits questioned whether Johnson was an appropriate spokesperson for an all natural energy drink considering his history of steroid use.[16][17] One ad is a mock interview between Johnson and Frank D'Angelo, the president and chief executive of D'Angelo Brands, which makes the drink, in which he asks Johnson: "Ben, when you run, do you Cheetah?". "Absolutely," says Johnson. "I Cheetah all the time."[18] The other commercial includes Johnson and a cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, and encourages viewers to "go ahead and Cheetah."[18] In August 2008, Johnson filed a $37 million lawsuit against the estate of his former lawyer Ed Futerman, claiming Futerman made unauthorized payments from his trust account to pay bills and 20 percent commissions to a hairdresser recruited by the lawyer to act as the sprinter's sports agent. At present, Johnson lives in Markham, Ontario and spends much of his time with his daughter and granddaughter. He also continues to coach. In 2010, he released his autobiography entitled Seoul to Soul.[13] In
- 13. the self-published book,Johnson reviews his childhood in Jamaica, and his early bout with malaria. A Canadian Press article described the book as "an unconventional sports autobiography."[19] Ben Jonson was born around June 11, 1572, the posthumous son of a clergyman. He was educated at Westminster School by the great classical scholar William Camden and worked in his stepfather's trade, bricklaying. The trade did not please him in the least, and he joined the army, serving in Flanders. He returned to England about 1592 and married Anne Lewis on November 14, 1594. Jonson joined the theatrical company of Philip Henslowe in London as an actor and playwright on or before 1597, when he is identified in the papers of Henslowe. In 1597 he was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison for his involvement in a satire entitled The Isle of Dogs, declared seditious by the authorities. The following year Jonson killed a fellow actor, Gabriel Spencer, in a duel in the Fields at Shoreditch and was tried at Old Bailey for murder. He escaped the gallows only by pleading benefit of clergy. During his subsequent imprisonment he converted to Roman Catholicism only to convert back to Anglicism over a decade later, in 1610. He was released forfeit of all his possessions, and with a felon's brand on his thumb. Jonson's second known play, Every Man in His Humour, was performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain's Men at the Globe with William Shakespeare in the cast. Jonson became a celebrity, and there was a brief fashion for 'humours' comedy, a kind of topical comedy involving eccentric characters, each of whom represented a temperament, or humor, of humanity. His next play, Every Man Out of His Humour (1599), was less successful. Every Man Out of His Humour and Cynthia's Revels (1600) were satirical comedies displaying Jonson's classical learning and his interest in formal experiment. Jonson's explosive temperament and conviction of his superior talent gave rise to "War of the Theatres". In The Poetaster (1601), he satirized other writers, chiefly the English dramatists Thomas Dekker and John Marston. Dekker and Marston retaliated by attacking Jonson in their Satiromastix (1601). The plot of Satiromastix was mainly overshadowed by its abuse of Jonson. Jonson had portrayed himself as Horace in The Poetaster, and in Satiromastix Marston and Dekker, as Demetrius and Crispinus ridicule Horace, presenting Jonson as a vain fool. Eventually, the writers patched their feuding; in 1604 Jonson collaborated with Dekker on The King's Entertainment and with Marston and George Chapman on Eastward Ho. Jonson's next play, the classical tragedy Sejanus, His Fall (1603), based on Roman history and offering an astute view of dictatorship, again got Jonson into trouble with the authorities. Jonson was called before the Privy Council on charges of 'popery and treason'. Jonson did not, however, learn a lesson, and was again briefly imprisoned, with Marston and Chapman, for controversial views ("something against the Scots") espoused in Eastward Ho (1604). These two incidents jeopardized his emerging role as court poet to King James I. Having converted to Catholicism, Jonson was also the object of deep suspicion after the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes (1605). In 1605, Jonson began to write masques for the entertainment of the court. The earliest of his masques, The Satyr was given at Althorpe, and Jonson seems to have been appointed Court Poet shortly after. The masques displayed his erudition, wit, and versatility and contained some of his best lyric poetry. Masque of Blacknesse (1605) was the first in a series of collaborations with Inigo Jones, noted English architect and set designer. This collaboration produced masques such as The Masque of Owles, Masque of Beauty (1608), and Masque of Queens (1609), which were performed in Inigo Jones' elaborate and exotic settings. These masques ascertained Jonson's standing as foremost writer of masques in the Jacobean era. The collaboration with Jones was finally destroyed by intense personal rivalry. Jonson's enduring reputation rests on the comedies written between 1605 and 1614. The first of these, Volpone, or The Fox (performed in 1605-1606, first published in 1607) is often regarded as his masterpiece. The play, though set in Venice, directs its scrutiny on the rising merchant classes of Jacobean London. The following plays, Epicoene: or, The Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614) are all peopled with dupes and those who deceive them. Jonson's keen sense of his own stature as author is represented by the unprecedented publication of his Works, in folio, in 1616. He was appointed as poet laureate and rewarded a substantial pension in the same year.
- 14. In 1618, whenhe was about forty-five years old, Jonson set out for Scotland, the home of his ancestors. He made the journey entirely by foot, in spite of dissuasion from Bacon, who "said to him he loved not to see poesy go on other feet than poetical dactyls and spondæus." Jonson's prose style is v ividly sketched in the notes of William Drummond of Hawthornden, who recorded their conversations during Jonson's visit to Scotland 1618-1619. Jonson himself was sketched by Hawthornden: " He is a great lover and praiser of himself ; a contemner and scorner of others ; given rather to lose a friend than a jest ; . . . he is passionately kind and angry ; careless either to gain or keep ; vindictive, but, if he be we ll answered, at himself . . . ; oppressed with fantasy, which hath ever mastered his reason."1 After his return, Jonson received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Oxford University and lectured on rhetoric at Gresham College, London. The comedy The Devil is an Ass (1616) had turned out to be a comparative flop. This may have discouraged Jonson, for it was nine years before his next play, The Staple of News (1625), was produced. Instead, Jonson turned his attention to writing masques. Jonson's later plays The New Inn (1629) and A Tale of a Tub (1633) were not great successes, described harshly, but perhaps justly by Dryden as his "dotages." Despite these apparent failures, and in spite of his frequent feuds, Jonson was the dean and the leading wit of the group of writers who gathered at the Mermaid Tavern in the Cheapside district of London. The young poets influenced by Jonson were the self-styled 'sons' or 'tribe' of Ben, later called the Cavalier poets, a group which included, among others, Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Sir John Suckling, and Richard Lovelace. Jonson was appointed City Chronologer of London in 1628, the same year in which he suffere d a severe stroke. His loyal friends kept him company in his final years and attended the King provided him some financial comfort. Jonson died on August 6, 1637 and was buried in Westminster Abbey under a plain slab on which was later carved the words, "O Rare Ben Jonson!" His admirers and friends contributed to the collection of memorial elegies, Jonsonus virbius, published in 1638. Jonson's last play, Sad Shepherd's Tale, was left unfinished at his death and published posthumously in 1641. 1. English Literature: An Illustrated Record. Vol II, part II. Richard Garnett and Edmund Gosse, Eds. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1904. Bibliography: Bamborough, J. B. Ben Jonson (1970) Barish, J. A.,Ben Jonson and the Language of Prose Comedy (1970) Barish, J. A., ed.,Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays (1963) Chute, Marchette. Ben Jonson of Westminster. (1953) Craig, D. H.,Ben Jonson: The Critical Heritage (1990) Davis, Joe Lee. The Sons of Ben: Jonsonian Comedy in Caroline England (1967) Hereford, C. H., et al., Eds. Ben Jonson: The Man and His Work, 11 vols. (1925-52) Jackson, Gabriele Bernhard. Vision and judgment in Ben Jonson's drama (1968) MacLean, Hugh, Ed. Ben Jonson And The Cavalier Poets (1974) Miles, Rosalind.Ben Jonson: His Life and Work (1986) Miles, Rosalind.Ben Jonson: His Craft and Art (1990) Nichols, J. G. Poetry of Ben Jonson (1969) Orgel, S. The Jonsonian Masque (1965; repr. 1981) Partridge, E. B. The Broken Compass: A Study of the Major Comedies of Ben Jonson (1958; repr. 1976) Riggs, David. Ben Jonson: A Life (1989) Trimpi, Wesley. A Study of Ben Jonson's Poems (1962) Watson, R. N.,Ben Jonson's Parodic Strategy (1987) Wolf, William Dennis. Reform of the fallen world : The "virtuous prince" in Jonsonian tragedy and comedy. (1973) From his Poetical Works
- 15. Drink to meonly with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I'll not look for wine. The Forest. To Celia. That for which all virtue now is sold, And almost every vice — almighty gold. The Forest. Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland. For he that once is good, is ever great. The Forest. Epistle to Katherine, Lady Aubigny. Soul of the age, The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage, My Shakespeare, rise! Underwood. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare. Though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek. Underwood. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare. He was not of an age, but for all time! Underwood. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare. For a good poet's made as well as born. Underwood. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare. Sweet Swan of Avon! Underwood. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare. Those that merely talk and never think, That live in the wild anarchy of drink. Underwood. To One that asked to be sealed of the Tribe of Ben. In small proportions we just beauties see, And in short measures life may perfect be. Underwood. A Pindaric Ode. From his Dramatic Works Where it concerns himself, Who's angry at a slander, makes it true. Catiline. Act III. Sc. 1. Bad men excuse their faults, good men will leave them. Catiline. Act III. Sc. 2.
- 16. As crimes dogrow, justice should rouse itself. Catiline. Act III. Sc. 5. The burnt child dreads the fire. The Devil is an Ass. Act I. Sc. 2. The Devil is an ass, I do acknowledge it. The Devil is an Ass. Act IV. Sc. 1. If he were to be made honest by an act of parliament I should not alter in my faith of him. The Devil is an Ass. Act IV. Sc. 1. Give me a look, give me a face, That makes simplicity a grace; Robes loosely flowing, hair as free,— Such sweet neglect more taketh me Than all the adulteries of art: They strike mine eyes, but not my heart. Epicoene. Act I. Sc. 1. Hang sorrow! care'll kill a cat. Every Man in his Humour. Act I. Sc. 3. As he brews, so shall he drink. Every Man in his Humour. Act II. Sc. 1. Art hath an enemy called ignorance. Every Man Out of his Humour. Act I. Sc. 1. But I do hate him as I hate the devil. Every Man Out of his Humour. Act I. Sc. 1. There shall be no love lost. Every Man Out of his Humour. Act II. Sc. 1. To the old, long life and treasure; To the young, all health and pleasure. The Gypsies Metamorphosed. Third Song. That old bald cheater, Time. The Poetaster. Act I. Sc. 1.
- 17. Apes are apesthough clothed in scarlet. The Poetaster. Act V. Sc. 3. Cut men's throats with whisperings. Sejanus. Act I. Of all wild beasts preserve me from a tyrant; and of all tame, a flatterer. Sejanus. Act I. From his Prose Works For he that was only taught by himself had a fool to his master. Timber: Or, Discoveries. Whom the disease of talking still once possesseth, he can never hold his peace. Timber: Or, Discoveries. Talking and eloquence are not the same thing: to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks. Timber: Or, Discoveries. A prince without letters is a pilot without eyes. All his government is groping. Timber: Or, Discoveries. I remember, the players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing (whatsoever he penned) he never blotted out a line. My answer hath been, would he had blotted a thousand. Timber: Or, Discoveries.
- 18. I: To TheReader II: To My Book III: To My Bookseller IV: To King James V: On the Union VI: To Alchemists VII: On the New Hot-House VIII: On a Robbery IX: To All, To Whom I Write X: To My Lord Ignorant XI: On Something That Walks Somewhere XII: On Lieutenant Shift XIII: To Doctor Empiric XIV: To William Camden XV: On Court-Worm XVI: To Brainhardy XVII: To the Learned Critic XVIII: To My Mere English Censurer XIX: On Sir Cod the Perfumed XX: To the Same. [Sir Cod the Perfumed] XXI: On Reformed Gam'ster XXII: On My First Daughter XXIII: To John Donne XXIV: To the Parliament XXV: On Sir Voluptuous Beast XXVI: On the Same XXVII: On Sir John Roe XXVIII: On Don Surly XXIX: To Sir Annual Tilter XXX: To Person Guilty XXXI: On Banks the Usurer XXXII: On Sir John Roe (II) XXXIII: To the Same XXXIV: Of Death XXXV: To King James (II) XXXVI: To the Ghost of Martial XXXVII: On Cheveril the Lawyer XXXVIII: On Person Guilty XXXIX: On Old Colt XL: On Margaret Ratcliffe XLI: On Gipsy XLII: On Giles and Joan XLIII: To Robert Earl of Salisbury XLIV: On Chuffe, Banks the Usurer's Kinsman XLV: On my First Son XLVI: To Sir Luckless Woo-All XLVII: To the Same XLVIII: On Mungril Esquire
- 19. XLIX: To Playwright L: To Sir Cod LI: To King James LII: To Censorious Courtling LIII: To Oldend Gatherer LIV: On Cheveril LV: To Francis Beaumont LVI: On Poet-Ape LVII: On Bawds and Usurers LVIII: To Groom Idiot LIX: On Spies LX: To William Lord Mounteagle LXI: To Fool, or Knave LXII: To Fine Lady Would-Be LXIII: To Robert Earl of Salisbury LXIV: To the Same. Upon the Accession of the Treasurership to him. [Robt E. Salisbury] LXV: To my Muse LXVI: To Sir Henry Cary LXVII: To Thomas Earl of Suffolk LXVIII: On Playwright LXIX: To Pertinax Cob LXX: To William Roe LXXI: On Court Parrot LXXII: To Courtling LXXIII: To Fine Grand LXXIV: To Thomas Lord Chancellor LXXV: On Lippe the Teacher LXXVI: To Lucy Countess of Bedford LXXVII: To One that Desired Me Not to Name Him LXXVIII: To Hornet LXXIX: To Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland LXXX: Of Life and Death LXXXVI: To the Same. [H. Goodyere] LXXXIX: To Edward Allen (Alleyne) XCIV: To Lucy, Countess of Bedford, with John Donne's Satires CI: Inviting a Friend to Supper CV: To Mary Lady Wroth CXVIII: On Gut CXX: An Epitaph on S [alathiel] P [avy] CXXIV: Epitaph on Elizabeth, L.H. CXXVIII: To William Roe Complete - Luminarium Editions I: Why I Write Not Of Love II: To Penshurst III: To Sir Robert Wroth IV: To the World: A Farewell for a Gentlewoman, Virtuous and Noble
- 20. V: Song ToCelia ("Come my Celia, let us prove") VI: To the Same ("Kiss me, Sweet") VII: Song. That Women Are But Men's Shadows VIII: Song. To Sickness IX: To Celia ("Drink to me only with thine eyes") X: Præludium ("And must I sing?") XI: Epode ("Not to know vice at all") XII: Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland XIII: Epistle to Katherine, Lady Aubigny XIV: Ode to Sir William Sidney, on His Birthday XV: To Heaven Poems of Devotion 2. An Hymn to God the Father 3. An Hymn on the Nativity of My Savior I: His Excuse for Loving Audio II: How he saw Her III: What he Suffered IV: Her Triumph V: His Discourse with Cupid VI: Claiming a Second Kiss by Desert VII: Begging Another VIII: Urging her of a Promise IX: Her Man described by her own Dictamen X: Another Lady's Exception, present at the Hearing Miscellaneous Poems 1. The Musical Strife. A Pastoral Dialogue 2. A Song [Oh, do not wanton with those eyes] 3. In the Person of Womankind. A Song Apologetic. 5. A Nymph's Passion 6. The Hour-Glass 7. My Picture Left in Scotland Audio 8. Against Jealousy 9. The Dream 10. An Epitaph on Master Vincent Corbet 11. On the Portrait of Shakspeare 12. To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare 14. To Mr. John Fletcher, Upon His "Faithful Shepherdess" 15. Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke 17. Epitaph on Michael Drayton 19. To His Much and Worthily Esteemed Friend, the Author 20. To My Worthy and Honored Friend, Master George Chapman
- 21. 23. Epigram. InAuthorem. [re: Nicholas Breton] 25. To the Author [re: Thomas Wright] 26. To the Author [re: T. Warre] 36. An Elegy [By those bright eyes] 39. An Elegy [Though beauty be the mark of praise] 41. An Ode to Himself [Where dost Thou careless lie] 42. The Mind of the Frontispiece to a Book 44. An Ode [High-spirited friend] 46. A Sonnet, to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Worth [I that have been a lover] 47. A Fit of Rhyme against Rhyme 57. An Elegy [To make the doubt clear] 59. An Elegy [Since you must go] 60. An Elegy [Let me be what I am] 68. An Epigram, to the Honored Countess of * * * 69. On Lord Bacon's Birthday 77. An Epitaph on Henry Lord La-ware 87. A Pindaric Ode [To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair....] 92. To the Right Honorable Hierome, Lord Weston 93. Epithalamion ; Or, A Song 100. An Elegy on the Lady Jane Pawlet, Marchioness of Winton To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare Ode to Himself upon the Censure of his "New Inn" "This is Mab, the mistress-fairy" (The Particular Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althrope) "Of Pan we sing" (Pan's Anniversary) "Slow, slow, fresh fount" (Cynthia's Revels) "Oh, that joy so soon should waste" (Cynthia's Revels) "Queen, and huntress, chaste and fair" (Cynthia's Revels) "If I freely may discover" (The Poetaster) "Swell me a bowl" (The Poetaster) "Still to Be Neat" (Epicoene, or the Silent Woman)
- 22. "Though I AmYoung and Cannot Tell" (The Sad Shepherd) "The faery beam upon you" (The Gypsies Metamorphosed) "To the old, long life and treasure" (The Gypsies Metamorphosed) "So breaks the sun earth's rugged chains" (The Irish Masque) Plays The Alchemist - Project Gutenberg Bartholomew Fair - UMichigan The Case is Altered - Holloway Pages Catiline - Holloway Pages Cynthia's Revels - Project Gutenberg The Devil is an Ass - Holloway Pages Eastward Ho - Holloway Pages Epicoene - Project Gutenberg Every Man in His Humour - Project Gutenberg Every Man Out of His Humor - Luminarium Editions The Magnetic Lady - Holloway Pages Mortimer his Fall (Fragment) - Holloway Pages New Inn - Holloway Pages The Poetaster - Project Gutenberg The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood - Univ. of Rochester Sejanus - Project Gutenberg The Staple of News - Holloway Pages A Tale of a Tub - Holloway Pages Volpone, or The Fox - Project Gutenberg Volpone, or The Fox - Full Manuscript Image Facsimile at SCETI Masques A Challenge at Tilt - Holloway Pages The Fortunate Isles, and Their Union - GB The Golden Age Restored (1616) - Luminarium Editions Gypsies Metamorphosed - Google Books The Irish Masque - Holloway Pages Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly - Holloway Pages Love Restored (1612) - Luminarium Editions Masque of Augurs - Google Books The Masque of Hymen (aka Hymenæ) (1606) - Luminarium Editions The Masque of Owls - Google Books [Excerpt] Masque of Queens (1609) - Holloway Pages Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists (1615) - Luminarium Editions Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion - Google Books News from the New World - Dartmouth
- 23. Oberon, the FairyPrince (1611) - Luminarium Editions The Queen's Masques The Masque of Blackness (1605) - Luminarium Editions The Masque of Beauty (1608) - Renascence Editions Pan's Anniversary - Google Books Prince Henry's Barriers - Holloway Pages Time Vindicated to Himself & To His Honours - Google Books Timber: Or, Discoveries - Project Gutenberg Timber: Or Discoveries Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries Another Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries [Bacon] Another Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries [Bacon 2] Another Excerpt from Timber: Or Discoveries [Shakespeare] Two Jonson Poems in Russian These essays are not intended to replace library research. They are here to show you what others think about a given subject, and to perhaps spark an interest or an idea in you. To take one of these essays, copy it, and to pass it off as your own is known as plagiarism—academic dishonesty which will result (in every university I've heard tell of) in suspension or dismissal from the university. Not only are your professors as technology-savvy as you are, they will not tolerate theft of another's intellectual efforts. Nota bene: Background and code copyright ©1996-2010 Anniina Jokinen. All rights reserved. =Student Essay THE PLAYS: Dissertation: "Falling to a devilish exercise": Magic and Spectacle on the Renaissance Stage - Shayne Confer Dissertation: Health Imagery and Rhetoric in the Major Comedies of Ben Jonson - Leona F. Dale [.pdf] Thesis: Dramatic Functions of Costuming in Plays by Ben Jonson - Emmett W. Cook [.pdf] The Trickster-figure in Jacobean City Comedy - William R. Dynes Stuart Civic Pageants and Textual Performance - David M. Bergeron
- 24. The Alchemist Thesis:Counterpoint: Its Use in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist - Gary Nored [.pdf] Thesis: "There's Magic in the Web of It": White and Black Magic in Jonson, Marlowe and Shakespeare - Marnie Findlater [.pdf] Suspense is Believing: The Reality of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist - Donald Beecher Jonson's Satire of Puritanism in The Alchemist - Jeanette D. Ferreira-Ross [.pdf] The Repudiation of the Marvelous: Jonson's The Alchemist and the Limits of Satire - Ian McAdam [.pdf] From Costiveness to Comic Relief: Purgation in The Alchemist - Tony Perrello The Alchemist and the Emerging Adult Private Playhouse - Anthony J. Ouellette Explication of the Opening of The Alchemist - Nathan Cervo Erasmus's 'Beggar Talk' and Jonson's Alchemist - Eric Sterling and Robert C. Evans Imagining Alchemists and Magicians in New Atlantis, The Tempest, and The Alchemist - David Hurley Dynamic Linguistic and Artistic Patterns in Jonson's The Alchemist - Amra Raza [.pdf] Bartholomew Fair 'A more familiar straine': Puppetry and Burlesque, or, Translation as Debasement in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Rui Carvalho Homem [.pdf] The Use of Booths in the Original Staging of Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Gabriel Egan [.pdf] The Puritan Dialectic of Law and Grace in Bartholomew Fair - Ian McAdam Bartholomew Fair and Jonsonian Tolerance - G.M. Pinciss The Law versus the Marketplace: Spontaneous Order in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Paul A. Cantor [.pdf] The (Self)-Fashioning of Ezekiel Edgworth in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair - Jean MacIntyre Ben Jonson's 'Civil Savages' - Rebecca Ann Bach Jonson at the Fair: A Playwright's Career in Review - David Reinheimer Ben Jonson Unmasked - Kathleen A. Prendergast The Widow Hunt on the Tudor-Stuart Stage - Ira Clark Epicoene Thesis: Men Disguised as Women in Elizabethan Drama - Marion S. Karr [.pdf] Dumb Reading: The Noise of the Mute in Jonson's Epicene - Adrian Curtin Jonson's Gossips and the Stuart Family Drama - Kristen McDermott "Things like truths, well feigned": Mimesis and Secrecy in Jonson's Epicoene - Reuben Sanchez "On forfeit of your selves, think nothing true": Self-Deception in Ben Jonson's Epicoene - J. A. Jackson Masculine Silence: 'Epicoene' and Jonsonian Stylistics - Douglas Lanier Refashioning Society in Ben Jonson's Epicoene - Marjorie Swann The Classical Context of Ben Jonson's "other youth" - Bruce Boehrer Cross Dressing with a Difference: The Roaring Girl and Epicoene - David Cope Epicoene's Cosmetic Contingencies - Mary E. Brooks and Jenna H. Sharp Every Man Out of His Humour Jonson's Every Man Out and Commentators on Terence - Matthew Steggle New Inn 'Wardrobe Stuffe': Clothes, Costume and the Politics of Dress in Ben Jonson's The New Inn - Julie Sanders Some Uses for Romance: Shakespeare's Cymbeline and Jonson's The New Inn - Andrew Stewart Ben Jonson's 'Civil Savages' - Rebecca Ann Bach The Poetaster
- 25. Undergrad Thesis: Gallimaufrayand Hellebore: Spenser and Jonson in Dialogue with the Past - Ruth M. McAdams [.pdf] The Pleasures of Restraint: The Mean of Coyness in Cavalier Poetry - Joshua Scodel Ben Jonson Unmasked - Kathleen A. Prendergast Sejanus Thesis: Complexity of Character in Jonson's Sejanus - Jennifer D. Jones [.pdf] Censorship and Representation in The Stuart Era: Three Roman Plays - David Cope [.pdf] Jonson and the Neo-Classical Rules in Sejanus and Volpone - David Faley-Hills Volpone The Intertextualities of Ben Jonson's Volpone - James Tulip [.pdf] Instances of Verbal Fraud in Jonson's Volpone - Elsa Simões Lucas Freitas [.pdf] Volpone and the Ends of Comedy - Ian Donaldson [.pdf] The Circle Pattern in Ben Jonson's Volpone - Jesús Cora Alonso [.pdf] Volpone as a Non–Comedy - Farida Chishti [.pdf] The Progress of Trickster in Ben Jonson's "Volpone" - Don Beecher "In his gold I shine": Jacobean Comedy and the Art of the Mediating Trickster - Alizon Brunning Jonson's Volpone and Dante - Christopher Baker and Richard Hart Ben Jonson's Beastly Comedy: Outfoxing the Critics, Gulling the Audience in Volpone - Clifford Davis In Changèd Shapes: The Two Jonsons' Volpones and Textual Editing - Karen Pirnie The Setting of "Volpone" - Ralph A. Cohen "Volpone"and the Old Comedy - P. H. Davison Jonson and the Neo-Classical Rules in Sejanus and Volpone - David Faley-Hills Unity of Theme in Volpone - Dorothy E. Litt Volpone's "Sport" and the Structure of Jonson's Volpone - James D. Redwine, Jr. Volpone: The Art of Deception - Miranda Johnson-Haddad Jonson's Romish Foxe: Anti-Catholic Discourse in Volpone - Alizon Brunning Ben Jonson Unmasked - Kathleen A. Prendergast Volpone and Stage Androgyny in the English Renaissance - Celeste Collins Volpone: Jonson's Experimentation with Comedy - Michael Williams Antitheatricalism in Light of Ben Jonson's Volpone - Joel Culpepper Shakespeare's Othello Compared to Jonson's Volpone - Jason Other Plays "Away, Stand off, I say": Women's Appropriations of Restraint and Constraint in The Birth of Merlin and The Devil is an Ass - Sarah E. Johnson 'The top of woman! All her sex in abstract!': Ben Jonson Directs the Boy Actor in The Devil is an Ass - Regina Buccola The Appropriation of Pleasure in The Magnetic Lady - Helen Ostovich MASQUES & ENTERTAINMENTS:
- 26. "The English Masque"- Felix E. Schelling mus t Dissertation: Courtly Psychosis: The Rhetoric of Preferment in the Court Masque - Moira E. Phillips [.pdf] Jonson's Masque Markets and Problems of Literary Ownership - Alison V. Scott "But why do I describe what all must see?": Verbal Explication in the Stuart Masque - Agnieszka Kolodziejska [.pdf] Performing Love in Ben Jonson's Masques - Chris Hill [.pdf] "Native Dyes": Race and Politics in the Jacobean Masque - Weidner & Walravens Beyond the Emblem: Alchemical Albedo in Ben Jonson's The Masque of Blackness - Rafael Vélez Núñez Emblems of Darkness: Othello (1604) and the Masque of Blackness (1605) - Manuel José Gómez Lara Performing Devotion in The Masque of Blacknesse - Molly Murray Beauty and the Beast: Images of Whiteness and Blackness from Jonson's The Masque of Blackness (1605) to Richard Brome's The English Moor, or The Mock-Marriage (1637) - Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre Jonson's Gossips and the Stuart Family Drama - Kristen McDermott The Three Faces of the Goddess in Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens - Maria Salomé Figueirôa Navarro Machado Amazon Reflections in the Jacobean Queen's Masque - Kathryn Schwarz Culture de cour et idéologie: de l'usage de la pastorale dans le masque Pans Anniversarie de Ben Jonson - Guillaume Forain [.pdf] The Performing Heir in Jonson's Jacobean Masques - Jean E. Graham The Problem in the Middle: Liminality in the Jonsonian Masque - Gregory A. Wilson The Rhetoric of Place in Ben Jonson's 'Chorographical' Entertainments and Masques - Thomas Worden Restoring Astraea: Jonson's Masque for the Fall of Somerset - Martin Butler and David Lindley Marketing Luxury at the New Exchange: Jonson's Entertainment at Britain's Burse and the Rhetoric of Wonder - Alison V. Scott THE POETRY: The Poetry of Ben Jonson - G. A. E. Parfitt The Tone of Ben Jonson's Poetry - Geoffrey Walton Ben Jonson's Poetry: Pastoral, Georgic, Epigram - Harris Friedberg Ben Jonson and the Story of Charis - Ian Donaldson [.pdf] Troping prostitution: Jonson and "The Court Pucell" - Victoria E. Price 'This truest glass': Ben Jonson's Verse Epistles and the Construction of the Ideal Patron - Colleen Shea Literature as Equipment for Living: Ben Jonson and the Poetics of Patronage - Robert C. Evans Stoicism and Plain Style in Ben Jonson: An Analysis of Some of His Verse Epistles - José María Pérez Fernández Liberty and History in Jonson's Invitation to Supper - Robert Cummings A Case for the Epigram: Ben Jonson's "Inviting a Friend to Supper" - Meredith Goulding [.pdf] "On the Famous Voyage": Ben Jonson and Civic Space - Andrew McRae Horatian satire in Jonson's "On the Famous Voyage" - Bruce Boehrer In the Person of Womankind: Female Persona Poems by Campion, Donne, Jonson - Pamela Coren Ben Jonson and the 'Traditio Basiorum': Catullan imitation in 'The Forrest' 5 and 6 - Bruce Boehrer Ben Jonson's 'On My First Son' and the Common Prayer Catechism - Jonquil Bevan
- 27. Microhistory and CulturalGeography: Ben Jonson's "To Sir Robert Wroth" and the Absorption of Local Community in the Commonwealth - Martin Elsky Pirating Spain: Jonson's Commendatory Poetry and the Translation of Empire - Barbara Fuchs "Man to man": Self-fashioning in Jonson's "To William Pembroke" - William Kolbrener Ben Jonson's Poems: Notes on the Ordered Society - Hugh MacLean "There are no accidents": Ben Jonson's construction of "Poet" - Joshua Messer "To Penshurst" Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Reinterpreting Formalism and the Country House Poem - Heather Dubrow Appropriating and Attributing the Supernatural in the Early Modern Country House Poem - A. D. Cousins and R. J. Webb From Common Wealth to Commonwealth: the Alchemy of "To Penshurst" - Hugh Jenkins Sacramental Dwelling with Nature: Jonson's "To Penshurst" and Heidegger's "Building Dwelling Thinking" - William E. Rogers [.pdf] Landscape and Property in Seventeenth-Century Poetry - Andrew McRae [.pdf] Poetry and Place in Drayton and Jonson - Canice J. Egan, S. J. [.pdf] Ben Jonson and the Good Society - Jeffrey Hart [.pdf] THE PROSE: The Prose of Poets: Ben Jonson - Francis Thompson JONSON & SHAKESPEARE: Jonson's Ode to Shakespeare: What Was He Actually Saying? - Stephanie Hopkins Hughes[.pdf] Afterlife: Jonson's "To the Memory... of Shakespeare" - Crystal Bartolovich Mildmay Fane on Jonson and Shakespeare - Joseph T. Roy, Jr., and Robert C. Evans Some Uses for Romance: Shakespeare's Cymbeline and Jonson's The New Inn - Andrew Stewart Emblems of Darkness: Othello (1604) and the Masque of Blackness (1605) - Manuel José Gómez Lara Disorder in the House of God: Disrupted Worship in Shakespeare and Others - Bruce Boehrer Ben Jonson and The First Folio - W. Lansdown Goldsworthy JONSON & THE CLASSICS: Dissertation: Ben Jonson's Horatian Theory and Plautine Practice - D. Audell Shelburne [.pdf] Jonson and the Classics - Stephen Dailly Jonson's Stoic Politics: Lipsius, the Greeks, and the "Speach According to Horace" - Robert C. Evans Horatian satire in Jonson's "On the Famous Voyage" - Bruce Boehrer
- 28. Jonson, Translation, andHoratian Lyric - Daniel Hooley Ben Jonson and the 'Traditio Basiorum': Catullan imitation in 'The Forrest' 5 and 6 - Bruce Boehrer Jonson's Every Man Out and Commentators on Terence - Matthew Steggle Stoicism and Plain Style in Ben Jonson: An Analysis of Some of His Verse Epistles - José María Pérez Fernández "Powdered with Golden Rain": The Myth of Danae in Early Modern Drama - Julie Sanders Jonson's Volpone and Dante - Christopher Baker and Richard Hart The Classical Context of Ben Jonson's "other youth" - Bruce Boehrer JONSON & OTHER AUTHORS: Erasmus's 'Beggar Talk' and Jonson's Alchemist - Eric Sterling and Robert C. Evans Jonson, Marlowe, and Epigram 77 - John Baker Poetry and Place in Drayton and Jonson - Canice J. Egan, S. J. [.pdf] Writing in Service: Sexual Politics and Class Position in the Poetry of Aemilia Lanyer and Ben Jonson - Ann Baynes Coiro 'I Exscribe Your Sonnets': Jonson and Lady Mary Wroth - R.E. Pritchard "But Worth pretends": Discovering Jonsonian Masque in Lady Mary Wroth's Pamphilia to Amphilanthus - Anita M. Hagerman "The strangest pageant, fashion'd like a court": John Donne and Ben Jonson to 1600 -- Parallel Lives - William F. Blissett Poetomachia and The Early Jonson: The Aesthetics of Topical Satire - David Cope "Honesty and vulgar praise": The Poet's War and the Literary Field - Edward Gieskes In the Person of Womankind: Female Persona Poems by Campion, Donne, Jonson - Pamela Coren Jonson and Carew on Donne: Censure into Praise - John Lyon Carew's response to Jonson and Donne - Scott Nixon "By Lucan driv'n about": A Jonsonian Marvell's Lucanic Milton - Andrew Shifflett 'A silenc'st bricke-layer': An Allusion to Ben Jonson in Thomas Middleton's 'Masque.' - Jerzy Limon Thomas Hobbes in Ben Jonson's 'The King's Entertainment at Welbeck' - A. P. Martinich A "Double Portion of his Father's Art": Congreve, Dryden, Jonson and The Drama of Theatrical Succession - Harold Weber Collaborating with the Forebear: Dryden's Reception of Ben Jonson - Jennifer Brady The Spanish Match Through the Texts: Jonson, Middleton, and Howell - F. Javier Sánchez Escribano The Court Drama of Ben Jonson and Calderón - José Manuel González Fernández de Sevilla Ben Jonson y Cervantes - Yumiko Yamada Ben Jonson and Cervantes - Yumiko Yamada GENERAL & MISCELLANEOUS: T. S. Eliot's 1920 Essay on Ben Jonson A Study of Ben Jonson - Algernon Charles Swinburne
- 29. Revaluating Ben Jonson- Laurence Raw Jonson the Master: Stones Well Squared - Fred Inglis Tradition and Ben Jonson - L. C. Knights Thesis: The Influence of Ben Jonson upon Ben Jonson - Leona F. Dale [.pdf] Chapter 1 of Ben Jonson and Possessive Authorship - Joseph Loewenstein [.pdf] Marking his Place: Ben Jonson's Punctuation - Sara van den Berg The Poet of Labor: Authorship and Property in the Work of Ben Jonson - Bruce Thomas Boehrer 'Ut Pictura Poesis': Jonson and the Painted Subject - Gary Ettari [.pdf] Invading Interpreters and Politic Picklocks: Reading Jonson Historically - Ian Donaldson [.pdf] Ben Jonson and the Jonsonian Afterglow: Imagemes, Avatars, and Literary Reception - Anthony W. Johnson [.pdf] Ben Jonson's 1616 Folio: A Revolution in Print? - Lynn S. Meskill [.pdf] Ben Jonson and His Folio - Clifford Stetner Jonson and the Motives of Print - Richmond Barbour Ben Jonson's Head - Jeffrey Masten Biographical Biography - Encyclopedia Britannica Biography - Matt Steggle, Literary Encyclopedia Biography - Theatre Database Biography - The Columbia Encyclopedia Biography - Theatrehistory.com Biography - Britain Express Biography - UVictoria The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). Ben Jonson - Ashley H. Thorndike Ben Jonson’s character and friendships Early life Production of Every Man in His Humour Maturity; Prosperity Later years Eminence in letters Epigrams; The Forest Underwoods The Sad Shepherd Early Plays
- 30. His Programmeof Reform; Every Man in His Humour Every Man out of His Humour His Tragedies Volpone; Epicoene The Alchemist Bartholomew Fayre His later Comedies His place in Literature Marston's quarrel with Jonson: Assaults and Counter-assaults - W. Macneile Dixon End of the quarrel - W. Macneile Dixon Massinger's literary models: Shakespeare, Fletcher, Jonson - Emil Koeppel General characteristics of the Jacobean and Caroline Drama: the central position of Jonson - Rev. Ronald Bayne The Pupils of Jonson: Nathaniel Field - Rev. Ronald Bayne Field’s debt to Jonson - Rev. Ronald Bayne Masque and Pastoral - Rev. Ronald Bayne Ben Jonson’s Masques - Rev. Ronald Bayne Rapid increase of dramatic elements in Jonson’s Masques - Rev. Ronald Bayne Jonson’s later work in this field - Rev. Ronald Bayne Ben Jonson’s The Sad Shepherd - Rev. Ronald Bayne Ben Jonson’s Timber - Harold V. Routh Jacobean and Caroline Criticism. Ben Jonson - J. E. Spingarn Jonson’s literary“portraits” - J. E. Spingarn Cavalier Lyrists. Influence of Jonson. - F. W. Moorman Miscellaneous Metric: Jonson and Others - George Saintsbury Perceptive Prosody: Jonson and Dryden - George Saintsbury Images Title-page of "Eastward Ho" (1605) - Columbia University Title-page of The Workes of Beniamin Jonson, 1616. [114k] Title-page of Jonson's Workes, 1640 - University of Sydney Jonson miniature - Folger Library Jonson's Signature - Folger Library Engraving of Jonson from the 1692 Workes - Holloway Pages Portrait of Jonson - Britannica Jonson portrait - SAC LitWeb The Grave of Ben Jonson The Robert Vaughan portrait of Ben Jonson with an epithet by Dryden [91k] Title-page of Every Man Out of His Humour, 1600. [54k] Beardsley's illustration for Volpone,1898. [36k] Pages from "Every Man Out of his Humour" (1616) - Columbia University Actor List from "Sejanus, his Fall" - Columbia University Title-page of Tragedies and Comedies (1633) [33k] Inigo Jones: House of Fame Set Drawing [51k] Oberon's Palace from "The Masque of Oberon" Oberon's Palace from "The Masque of Oberon" (image 2) [231k] Inigo Jones: Oberon from "The Masque of Oberon" [69k] Satyrs and Fays from "The Masque of Oberon" [164k] Inigo Jones: Female masquer [203k] Inigo Jones: Male masquer [138k]
- 31. Inigo Jones CostumePlate from "Masque of Queens" [96k] Inigo Jones: Daughter of Niger from "Masque of Blackness" (1605) [91k] On Volpone Study Questions forVolpone - Prof. Philip Mitchell Study guide to Volpone - Prof. Theresa M. DiPasquale Notes on Volpone - Prof. Arnie Sanders Monstrous Characters in Volpone - Dr. Desmet, UGA Discussion of Monsters in Volpone - English 434/ Dr. Desmet, UGA Venice in Volpone - Jason Miscellaneous List of Jonson's Works - David Lewis The Ben Jonson Journal Study guide to Masque of Blacknesse - Theresa M. DiPasquale Money Jonson - Jennifer W. Spirko SAC LitWeb Jonson Page - Roger Blackwell Bailey The Ben Jonson page - Matt Steggle Oberon: Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones - UVictoria Indigo "To Penshurst" - Prof. Clare Kinney The Alchemy of Human Relations in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist - Dr. Desmet, UGA The Alchemy of Human Relations in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist (PartII) - Dr. Desmet, UGA On Jonson and Bacon - Martin Pares On the presentation of The Masque of Beauty Information on the Vaughan portrait Herrick's poems on Ben Jonson Carew's To Ben Jonson Upon Occasion of His Ode of Defiance Frank's Creative Quotations from Ben Jonson The Ben Jonson Journal First Volume of "The Ben Jonson Journal" Published A Digital Catalogue of Watermarks and Type Ornaments Used by WilliamStansby in the Printing of THE WORKES OF BENIAMIN JONSON (London, 1616) A Student's Bibliography for Jonson - Southwest Texas Community College To buy a book from Amazon.com (US) just click on the title. To buy a book from Amazon.co.uk (UK) use link under description (if available). Biographical Ben Jonson : A Life by David Riggs Paperback Reprint edition
- 32. Harvard University Press,Sept 1989 "Riggs (English, Stanford) provides a thorough account, synthesizing six decades of scholar-ship and new historical evidence. An essential description not only of Jonson, but of the English Renaissance as well." —Book News, Inc. Order it from Amazon.co.uk Ben Jonson : A Literary Life by W. David Kay Hardcover St Martins Pr (Short); March 1995 "A concise biography of Jonson's career, placed in the context of Jacobean politics, court patronage, and his many literary rivalries. Stressing his wit and inventiveness, Kay explores the strategies by which Jonson attempted to maintain his independence and introduces new evidence concerning his appropriation of other English writers' work." —Book News, Inc. Order it from Amazon.co.uk Ben Jonson (English Dramatists) by Richard Allen Cave Hardcover St. Martin's Press, March 1991 An excellent critical biography. Poetry Ben Jonson and the Cavalier Poets (A Norton Critical Edition) Selected and Edited by Hugh MacLean Published by W W Norton & Co, January 1,1975 This Norton Critical edition has a thorough selection of poetry by Ben Jonson. The poetry is accompanied by excellent annotations. A treasure! Visit the website. Order it from Amazon.co.uk Ben Jonson (Oxford Authors) by Ian Donaldson Oxford Univ Pr, December 1985 An extraordinary representative collection
- 33. of Jonson's workswith poetry and excerpts from the masques and plays. Table of Contents Order it from Amazon.co.uk Plays and Masques Ben Jonson's Plays and Masques (Second Edition) by Ben Jonson, Richard Harp (Editor) Paperback 2nd edition W.W. Norton & Company; September 2000 3 plays: Volpone, Epicoene, and The Alchemist. Also 3 masques: Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemist at Court, Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue, and Jonson's first Masque, The Masque of Blackness. Extensive annotations, and critical materials. Superb! Order it from Amazon.co.uk The Alchemist and Other Plays Ben Jonson, Gordon Campbell(Editor) Oxford University Press, July 1995 "Volpone, Epicene, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair. The texts of these plays have all been newly edited for this volume, and are presented with modernized spelling.... the introduction, notes, and glossary further bring to life these timeless comedies." —The Publisher Order it from Amazon.co.uk Three Comedies by Ben Jonson, Michael Jamieson(Editor) Penguin Books, June 1972 Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair. Order it from Amazon.co.uk The Complete Masques (Ben Jonson Series : No 4) by Ben Jonson, Graham Hood, Francis P. Garvan Hardcover Yale Univ Pr, July 1986 "The masques contain some of Jonson's most magnificent verse, and introduce the modern reader to an extravagant theatrical form long since vanished from the stage."
- 34. —The Reader's Catalog Every Man in His Humour by Ben Jonson, Martin Seymour-Smith W. W. Norton & Company, June 1976 Norton's excellent edition of Jonson's comedy The New Inn (Swan Theatre Plays) by Ben Jonson, Simon Trussler Methuen, January 1988 The Selected Plays of Ben Jonson Vol. 1 by Johanna Procter, Ben Jonson Cambridge Univ Pr, September 1989 "The author's highly individualized treatment of names, verb forms and punctuation is preserved in this volume of three of his greatest plays— Sejanus (1603), Volpone (1606) and Epicoene, or The Silent Woman (1609)." —The Publisher Order it from Amazon.co.uk The Selected Plays of Ben Jonson Vol. 2 by Martin Butler (Editor), Ben Jonson Hardcover Paperback Cambridge Univ Pr, January 1989 "Four of Ben Jonson's plays are examined in this second volume of criticism: two are his major works and two from his later oeuvre. They include The Alchemist, Bartholomew Fair, The New Inn and A Tale of a Tub. " —The Publisher Order it from Amazon.co.uk Ben Jonson: Four Comedies (Longman Annotated Texts) by Ben Jonson, Helen Ostovich Longman Group, October 1996 "This edition of Ben Jonson's four middle comedies [Volpone, or the Fox, Epicoene, or the silent woman, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair places the works in the popular history and culture of the times, 1605-1614, and surveys the influences, both
- 35. classical and contemporary,on Jonson as a playwright." —The Publisher. Full Description and TOC Order it from Amazon.co.uk Jonson and Contemporaries Erotic Beasts and Social Monsters : Shakespeare, Jonson, and Comic Androgyny by Grace Tiffany Hardcover Univ of Delaware Pr, Feb 1995 "argues that the differing Renaissance views of androgyny have their roots in the conflict-ing classical traditions of satire and myth." —UDelaware Press Order it from Amazon.co.uk Rival Playwrights : Marlowe, Jonson, Shakespeare by James S. Shapiro Hardcover Columbia Univ Pr, May 1991 Order it from Amazon.co.uk Self-Crowned Laureates : Spenser, Jonson, Milton and the Literary System by Richard Helgerson Hardcover Univ of California Pr, June 1983 Shakespeare, Jonson, and the Myth of Venice by David C. McPherson Hardcover Univ of Delaware Pr, July 1991 Order it from Amazon.co.uk The Politics of Mirth : Jonson, Herrick, Milton, Marvell and the Defense of Old Holiday Pastimes by Leah S. Marcus Paperback Reprint edition University of Chicago Press, May 1989 Order it from Amazon.co.uk
- 36. Bibliographical Ben Jonson: A Quadricentennial Bibliography, Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Seven Thru Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Two by Dewey Heyward Brock Hardcover Scarecrow Pr, July 1974 Other Critical Essays on Ben Jonson (Critical Essays on British Literature) by Robert N. Watson (Editor) Hardcover G K Hall, November 1997 "The essays are written by distinguished commentators at both ends of the chrono-logical range, from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Together they provide the best early case study of English literary criticism." —Amazon.com Full Description Ben Jonson's Antimasques : A History of Growth and Decline by Lesley Mickel Hardcover Ashgate Publishing Company; March 1999 "[D]iscusses in detail those court entertainments which contributed significantly to the genre's evolution and development. Her approach is innovative in that she examines these works in relation to Jonson's poetry and dramatic works. This reveals some idea of the way in which Jonson perceived the relationship between satire and panegyric, as well as highlighting the related, if oppositional, views of state power which he expresses in the Roman plays and in the masques." —Amazon.co.uk Full Description Table of Contents Order it from Amazon.co.uk Jonson and the Contexts of His Time by Robert C. Evans Hardcover Bucknell Univ Pr, May 1994 "By examining specific works, particular historical circumstances, and complex
- 37. relations with variousindividuals, author Robert C. Evans tries to locate Jonson's writings in the contexts that helped shape their artistry." —Card Catalog. Full Description Order it from Amazon.co.uk Jonson's Magic Houses : Essays in Interpretation by Ian Donaldson Hardcover Clarendon Pr, April 1997 "In this new collection of biographical, critical, and historical essays, Ian Donaldson challenges many long-held and recent assumptions about the nature of Jonson's personality and creative achievement, offering fresh readings of his life and art." —The Publisher Full Description Order it from Amazon.co.uk Ben Jonson: Authority, Criticism by Richard Dutton Hardcover St Martins P, July 1996 "Looks at how Jonson's criticism attempts to define himself and his writings in relation to his contemporaries and to writers of the classical past, and how his model for the profession of letters impacted generations to come in England." —Book News, Inc. Order it from Amazon.co.uk Jonsonian Discriminations : The Humanist Poet and the Praise of True Nobility by Michael McCanles Hardcover Univ of Toronto Pr, January 1992 At the heart of all Ben Jonson's nondramatic poetry, argues Michael McCanles, lies the concept of true nobility.... In this survey of all Jonson's non-dramatic poetry, McCanles identifies a range of dialectical and contrastive forms through which this concern was rendered poetically. Full Description
- 38. Order it fromAmazon.co.uk Ben Jonson and the Art of Secrecy by William W.E. Slights $50.00 Hardcover Univ of Toronto Pr, December 1994 A study of the theme of secrecy, conspiracy, and deception in Jonson's works. Order it from Amazon.co.uk Ben Jonson and Self-Love : The Subtlest Maze of All by Robert Edward Wiltenburg Hardcover Univ of Missouri Pr, February 1990 "Through a perceptive analysis of Cynthias Revels, Volpone, Epigrammes, and The Forrest, Robert Wiltenburg has made an important contribution to Jonson scholarship by establishing that Jonson's growing artistic mastery went hand in hand with his maturing treatment of self-love." —The Publisher "This book is well written, full of complex and perceptive close readings, and raises two ... interesting propositions about Ben Jonson's works: that the plays and nondramatic poems need to be read together, and that in both genres Jonson represents 'one of our great poets of love.'"—Renaissance Quarterly Order it from Amazon.co.uk
- 39. Introduction | EnglishMasque | John Heywood | Nicholas Udall | John Skelton | Thomas Sackville Thomas Kyd | George Peele | Robert Greene | George Gascoigne | John Bale | Anthony Munday John Lyly | Christopher Marlowe | William Shakespeare | Ben Jonson | John Marston | John Webster Thomas Dekker | Francis Beaumont | John Fletcher | Thomas Middleton | William Rowley John Ford | Philip Massinger | James Shirley | Margaret Cavendish | Thomas Heywood
- 41. This HTML etextof Ben Jonson's "The Forest" was created in February 2003 by Anniina Jokinen of Luminarium. The text is unaltered, save for the addition of line numbering. Source text: Jonson, Ben. The Works of Ben Jonson. Edited, with a Biographical Memoir, by William Gifford. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, 1853. 801-808. This edition is made available to the public for nonprofit purposes only. It is not represented by the publisher as a scholar ly edition in the peer-reviewed sense. Unique site content is copyright ©2003 Anniina Jokinen. This e-text may not be reproduced or published in any form without express written consent from the copyright holder. For corrections, comments, and queries, please email the publisher. T H E F O R E S T . By Ben Jonson I. — WHY I WRITE NOT OF LOVE. SOME act of LOVE'S bound to rehearse, I thought to bind him in my verse : Which when he felt, Away, quoth he, Can poets hope to fetter me ?
- 42. It is enough,they once did get 5 Mars and my mother, in their net : I wear not these my wings in vain. With which he fled me ; and again, Into my rhymes could ne'er be got By any art : then wonder not, 10 That since, my numbers are so cold, When Love is fled, and I grow cold. II. — TO PENSHURST. Thou art not, PENSHURST, built to envious show Of touch, or marble ; nor canst boast a row Of polish'd pillars, or a roof of gold : Thou hast no lantern whereof tales are told ; Or stair, or courts ; but stand'st an ancient pile, And these grudg'd at, art reverenced the while. Thou joy'st in better marks, of soil, of air, Of wood, of water ; therein thou art fair. Thou hast thy walks for health, as well as sport : Thy mount, to which thy Dryads do resort, 10 Where Pan and Bacchus their high feasts have made, Beneath the broad beech, and the chestnut shade ; That taller tree, which of a nut was set, At his great birth, where all the Muses met. There, in the writhed bark, are cut the names Of many a sylvan, taken with his flames ; And thence the ruddy satyrs oft provoke The lighter fauns, to reach thy lady's oak. Thy copse too, named of Gamage, thou hast there, That never fails to serve thee season'd deer, 20 When thou wouldst feast or exercise thy friends. The lower land, that to the river bends, Thy sheep, thy bullocks, kine, and calves do feed ; The middle grounds thy mares and horses breed. Each bank doth yield thee conies ; and the tops Fertile of wood, Ashore and Sydneys copp's, To crown thy open table, doth provide The purpled pheasant, with the speckled side : The painted partridge lies in ev'ry field, And for thy mess is willing to be kill'd. 30 And if the high-swoln Medway fail thy dish, Thou hast thy ponds, that pay thee tribute fish, Fat aged carps that run into thy net, And pikes, now weary their own kind to eat, As loth the second draught or cast to stay, Officiously at first themselves betray. Bright eels that emulate them, and leap on land, Before the fisher, or into his hand, Then hath thy orchard fruit, thy garden flowers, 40
- 43. Fresh as theair, and new as are the hours. The early cherry, with the later plum, Fig, grape, and quince, each in his time doth come : The blushing apricot, and woolly peach Hang on thy walls, that every child may reach. And though thy walls be of the country stone, They're rear'd with no man's ruin, no man's groan ; There's none, that dwell about them, wish them down ; But all come in, the farmer and the clown ; And no one empty-handed, to salute Thy lord and lady, though they have no suit. 50 Some bring a capon, some a rural cake, Some nuts, some apples ; some that think they make The better cheeses, bring them ; or else send By their ripe daughters, whom they would commend This way to husbands ; and whose baskets bear An emblem of themselves in plum, or pear. But what can this (more than express their love) Add to thy free provisions, far above The need of such ? whose liberal board doth flow With all that hospitality doth know ! 60 Where comes no guest, but is allow'd to eat, Without his fear, and of thy lord's own meat : Where the same beer and bread, and self-same wine, That is his lordship's, shall be also mine. And I not fain to sit (as some this day, At great men's tables) and yet dine away. Here no man tells my cups ; nor standing by, A waiter, doth my gluttony envý : But gives me what I call, and lets me eat, He knows, below, he shall find plenty of meat ; 70 Thy tables hoard not up for the next day, Nor, when I take my lodging, need I pray For fire, or lights, or livery ; all is there ; As if thou then wert mine, or I reign'd here : There's nothing I can wish, for which I stay. That found King JAMES, when hunting late, this way, With his brave son, the prince ; they saw thy fires Shine bright on every hearth, as the desires Of thy Penates had been set on flame, To entertain them ; or the country came, 80 With all their zeal, to warm their welcome here. What (great, I will not say, but) sudden chear Didst thou then make 'em ! and what praise was heap'd On thy good lady, then ! who therein reap'd The just reward of her high huswifry ; To have her linen, plate, and all things nigh, When she was far ; and not a room, but drest, As if it had expected such a guest ! These, Penshurst, are thy praise, and yet not all. Thy lady's noble, fruitful, chaste withal. 90
- 44. His children thygreat lord may call his own ; A fortune, in this age, but rarely known. They are, and have been taught religion ; thence Their gentler spirits have suck'd innocence. Each morn, and even, they are taught to pray, With the whole household, and may, every day, Read in their virtuous parents' noble parts, The mysteries of manners, arms, and arts. Now, Penshurst, they that will proportion thee With other edifices, when they see 100 Those proud ambitious heaps, and nothing else, May say, their lords have built, but thy lord dwells. III. — TO SIR ROBERT WROTH. How blest art thou, canst love the country, WROTH, Whether by choice, or fate, or both ! And though so near the city, and the court, Art ta'en with neither's vice nor sport : That at great times, art no ambitious guest Of sheriff 's dinner, or mayor's feast. Nor com'st to view the better cloth of state, The richer hangings, or crown-plate ; Nor throng'st (when masquing is) to have a sight Of the short bravery of the night ; To view the jewels, stuffs, the pains, the wit There wasted, some not paid for yet ! But canst at home, in thy securer rest, Live, with unbought provision blest ; Free from proud porches, or their gilded roofs, 'Mongst lowing herds, and solid hoofs : Along the curled woods, and painted meads, Through which a serpent river leads To some cool courteous shade, which he calls his, 10 And makes sleep softer than it is. Or if thou list the night in watch to break, A-bed canst hear the loud stag speak, In spring, oft roused for thy master's sport, Who for it makes thy house his court ; Or with thy friends, the heart of all the year Divid'st, upon the lesser deer : In Autumn, at the partridge mak'st a flight, And giv'st thy gladder guests the sight ; And in the winter, hunt'st the flying hare, 20 More for thy exercise, than fare ; While all that follow, their glad ears apply To the full greatness of the cry : Or hawking at the river, or the bush, Or shooting at the greedy thrush, Thou dost with some delight the day out-wear, 30
- 45. Although the coldestof the year ! The whilst the several seasons thou hast seen Of flowery fields, of cop'ces green, The mowed meadows, with the fleeced sheep, And feasts, that either shearers keep ; The ripened ears, yet humble in their height, And furrows laden with their weight ; The apple-harvest, that doth longer last ; The hogs return'd home fat from mast ; The trees cut out in log, and those boughs made A fire now, that lent a shade ! Thus Pan and Sylvan having had their rites, Comus puts in for new delights ; And fills thy open hall with mirth and cheer, 40 As if in Saturn's reign it were ; Apollo's harp, and Hermes' lyre resound, Nor are the Muses strangers found. The rout of rural folk come thronging in, (Their rudeness then is thought no sin) Thy noblest spouse affords them welcome grace ; And the great heroes of her race Sit mixt with loss of state, or reverence. Freedom doth with degree dispense. The jolly wassal walks the often round, 50 And in their cups their cares are drown'd : They think not then, which side the cause shall leese, Nor how to get the lawyer fees. Such and no other was that age of old, Which boasts t' have had the head of gold. And such, since thou canst make thine own content, Strive, Wroth, to live long innocent. Let others watch in guilty arms, and stand The fury of a rash command, Go enter breaches, meet the cannon's rage, 60 That they may sleep with scars in age ; And shew their feathers shot, and colors torn, And brag that they were therefore born. Let this man sweat, and wrangle at the bar, For every price, in every jar, And change possessions, oftner with his breath, Than either money, war, or death : Let him, than hardest sires, more disinherit, And each where boast it as his merit, To blow up orphans, widows, and their states ; 70 And think his power doth equal fate's. Let that go heap a mass of wretched wealth, Purchased by rapine, worse than stealth, And brooding o'er it sit, with broadest eyes, Not doing good, scarce when.he dies. Let thousands more go flatter vice, and win, By being organs to great sin ; 80
- 46. Get place andhonor, and be glad to keep The secrets that shall break their sleep And so they ride in purple, eat in plate, Though poison, think it a great fate. But thou, my Wroth, if I can truth apply, Shalt neither that, nor this envy : Thy peace is made ; and when man's state is well, 'Tis better, if he there can dwell. God wisheth none should wrack on a strange shelf : To him man's dearer, than t' himself. And howsoever we may think things sweet, He always gives what he knows meet ; Which who can use is happy : Such be thou. 90 Thy morning's and thy evening's vow Be thanks to him, and earnest pray'r to find A body sound, with sounder mind ; To do thy country service, thy self right ; That neither want do thee affright, Nor death ; but when thy latest sand is spent, Thou may'st think life a thing but lent. 100 IV. — TO THE WORLD. A Farewell for a Gentlewoman, virtuous and noble. False world, good-night ! since thou hast brought That hour upon any morn of age, Henceforth I quit thee from my thought, My part is ended on thy stage. Do not once hope that thou canst tempt A spirit so resolv'd to tread Upon thy throat, and live exempt From all the nets that thou canst spread. I know thy forms are studied arts, Thy subtle ways be narrow straits ; 10 Thy courtesy but sudden starts, And what thou call'st thy gifts are baits. I know too, though thou strut and paint, Yet art thou both shrunk up, and old, That only fools make thee a saint, And all thy good is to be sold. I know thou whole are but a shop Of toys and trifles, traps and snares, To take the weak, or make them stop : 20
- 47. Yet art thoufalser than thy wares. And, knowing this, should I yet stay, Like such as blow away their lives, And never will redeem a day, Enamour'd of their golden gyves ? Or having 'scaped shall I return, And thrust my neck into the noose, From whence so lately, I did burn, With all my powers, myself to loose ? What bird, or beast is known so dull, That fled his cage, or broke his chain, 30 And, tasting air and freedom, wull Render his head in there again ? If these who have but sense, can shun The engines, that have them annoy'd ; Little for me had reason done, If I could not thy gins avoid. Yes, threaten, do. Alas, I fear As little, as I hope from thee : I know thou canst nor shew, nor bear More hatred, than thou hast to me. 40 My tender, first, and simple years Thou didst abuse, and then betray ; Since stirr'dst up jealousies and fears, When all the causes were away. Then in a soil hast planted me, Where breathe the basest of thy fools, Where envious arts professed be, And pride and ignorance the schools : Where nothing is examin'd, weigh'd, But as 'tis rumour'd, so believed ; 50 Where every freedom is betray'd, And every goodness tax'd or grieved. But what we're born for, we must bear : Our frail condition it is such, That what to all may happen here, If't chance to me, I must not grutch. Else I my state should much mistake, To harbor a divided thought From all my kind ; that for my sake, There should a miracle be wrought. 60
- 48. No, I doknow that I was born To age, misfortune, sickness, grief : But I will bear these with that scorn, As shall not need thy false relief. Nor for my peace will I go far, As wanderers do, that still do roam ; But make my strengths, such as they are, Here in my bosom, and at home. V. — SONG. — TO CELIA. Come, my CELIA, let us prove, While we may, the sports of love ; Time will not be ours for ever : He at length our good will sever. Spend not then his gifts in vain. 5 Suns that set, may rise again: But if once we lose this light, 'Tis with us perpetual night. Why should we defer our joys ? Fame and rumor are but toys. 10 Cannot we delude the eyes Of a few poor household spies ; Or his easier ears buguile, So removed by our wile ? 'Tis no sin love's fruit to steal, 15 But the sweet theft to reveal : To be taken, to be seen, These have crimes accounted been. VI. — TO THE SAME. Kiss me, sweet : the wary lover Can your favors keep, and cover, When the common courting jay All your bounties will betray. Kiss again : no creature comes. Kiss, and score up wealthy sums On my lips, thus hardly sundred, While you breathe. First give a hundred, Then a thousand, then another Hundred, then unto the other 10 Add a thousand, and so more : Till you equal with the store, All the grass that Rumney yields, Or the sands in Chelsea fields,
- 49. Or the dropsin silver Thames, Or the stars that gild his streams, In the silent Summer-nights, When youths ply their stolen delights ; That the curious may not know How to tell 'em as they flow, 20 And the envious, when they find What their number is, be pined. VII. — SONG. — THAT WOMEN ARE BUT MEN'S SHADOWS. Follow a shadow, it still flies you, Seem to fly it, it will pursue : So court a mistress, she denies you ; Let her alone, she will court you. Say are not women truly, then, 5 Styl'd but the shadows of us men ? At morn and even shades are longest ; At noon they are or short, or none : So men at weakest, they are strongest, But grant us perfect, they're not known. 10 Say, are not women truly, then, Styl'd but the shadows of us men ? VIII. — SONG. — TO SICKNESS. Why, DISEASE, dost thou molest Ladies, and of them the best? Do not men enow of rights To thy altars, by their nights Spent in surfeits ; and their days, And nights too, in worser ways ? Take heed, Sickness, what you do, I shall fear you'll surfeit too. Live not we, as all thy stalls, Spittles, pest-house, hospitals, Scarce will take our present store ? And this age will build no more. 'Pray thee, feed contented then, Sickness, only on us men ; Or if it needs thy lust will taste Woman-kind ; devour the waste Livers, round about the town. But, forgive me, — with thy crown They maintain the truest trade, 10
- 50. And have morediseases made. What should yet thy palate please ? Daintiness, and softer ease, Sleeked limbs, and finest blood ? If thy leanness love such food, There are those, that for thy sake, Do enough ; and who would take Any pains : yea, think it price, To become thy sacrifice. That distill, their husbands' land 20 In decoctions ; and are mann'd With ten emp'rics, in their chamber, Lying for the spirit of amber. That for the oil of talc dare spend More than citizens dare lend Them, and all their officers. That to make all pleasure theirs, Will by coach, and water go, Every stew in town to know ; Dare entail their loves on any, 30 Bald or blind, or ne'er so many : And for thee at common game, Play away health, wealth, and fame. These, Disease, will thee deserve ; And will long, ere thou should'st starve, On their beds, most prostitute, Move it, as their humblest suit, In thy justice to molest None but them, and leave the rest. 40 IX. — SONG. — TO CELIA. Drink to me, only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine ; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I'll not look for wine. The thirst, that from the soul doth rise, 5 Doth ask a drink divine : But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honoring thee, 10 As giving it a hope, that there It could not wither'd be. But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent'st it back to me : Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, 15 Not of itself, but thee.
- 51. X. — PRÆLUDIUM. And must I sing ? what subject shall I choose ? Or whose great name in poets' heaven use, For the more countenance to my active muse? Hercules ? Alas his bones are yet sore, With his old earthly labors : t' exact more, Of his dull godhead, were sin. I'll implore Phoebus. No, tend thy cart still. Envious day Shall not give out that I have made thee stay, And founder'd thy hot team, to tune my lay. Nor will I beg of thee, Lord of the vine, To raise my spirits with thy conjuring wine, In the green circle of thy ivy twine. Pallas, nor thee I call on, mankind maid, That at thy birth, mad'st the poor smith afraid, Who with his axe, thy father's midwife plaid. Go, cramp dull Mars, light Venus, when he snorts, Or, with thy tribade trine, invent new sports ; Thou nor thy looseness with my making sorts. Let the old boy, your son, ply his old task, Turn the stale prologue to some painted mask ; His absence in my verse, is all I ask. Hermes, the cheater, shall not mix with us, Though he would steal his sisters' Pegasus, And rifle him : or pawn his petasus. THE PHOENIX ANALYSED. Now, after all, let no man Receive it for a fable, If a bird so amiable Do turn into a woman. Or, by our Turtle's augure, That nature's fairest creature Prove of his mistress' feature But a bare type and figure. Nor all the ladies of the Thespian lake, (Though they were crushed into one form) could make A beauty of that merit, that should take.
- 52. Splendor ! Omore than mortal For other forms come short all, Of her illustrious brightness As far as sin's from lightness. Her wit as quick and sprightful As fire, and more delightful Than the stolen sports of lovers, When night their meeting covers. Judgment, adorn'd with learning, Doth shine in her discerning, Clear as a naked vestal Closed in an orb of crystal. Her breath for sweet exceeding The phoenix' place of breeding, But mix'd with sound, transcending All nature of commending. Alas then whither wade I In thought to praise this lady, When seeking her renowning My self am so near drowning? Retire, and say her graces Are deeper than their faces, Yet she's not nice to show them, Nor takes she pride to know them. My muse up by commission ; no, I bring My own true fire : now my thought takes wing, And now an EPODE to deep ears I sing. XI. — EPODE. Not to know vice at all, and keep true state, Is virtue and not fate : Next to that virtue, is to know vice well, And her black spite expel, Which to effect (since no breast is so sure, Or safe, but she'll procure Some way of entrance) we must plant a guard Of thoughts to watch, and ward At the eye and ear, the ports unto the mind, That no strange, or unkind Object arrive there, but the heart, our spy, Give knowledge instantly, 10
- 53. To wakeful reason,our affections' king : Who, in th' examining, Will quickly taste the treason, and commit Close, the close cause of it. 'Tis the securest policy we have, To make our sense our slave. But this true course is not embraced by many : By many ! scarce by any. For either our affections do rebel, Or else the sentinel, That should ring larum to the heart, doth sleep ; Or some great thought doth keep Back the intelligence, and falsely swears, They are base, and idle fears Whereof the loyal conscience so complains, Thus, by these subtile trains, Do several passions invade the mind, 20 And strike our reason blind, Of which usurping rank, some have thought love The first ; as prone to move Most frequent tumults, horrors, and unrests, In our enflamed breasts : But this doth from the cloud of error grow, Which thus we over-blow. The thing they here call Love, is blind desire, Arm'd with bow, shafts, and fire ; Inconstant, like the sea, of whence 'tis born, 30 Rough, swelling, like a storm : With whom who sails, rides on the surge of fear, And boils, as if he were In a continual tempest. Now, true love No such effects doth prove ; That is an essence far more gentle, fine, Pure, perfect, nay divine ; It is a golden chain let down from heaven, Whose links are bright and even, That falls like sleep on lovers, and combines 40 The soft, and sweetest minds In equal knots : this bears no brands, nor darts, To murder different hearts, But in a calm, and god-like unity, Preserves community. O, who is he, that, in this peace, enjoys The elixir of all joys ? A form more fresh than are the Eden bowers, And lasting as her flowers : Richer than Time, and as time's virtue rare 50 Sober, as saddest care ; A fixed thought, an eye untaught to glance : Who, blest with such high chance Would, at suggestion of a steep desire, 60
- 54. Cast himself fromthe spire Of all his happiness ? But soft : I hear Some vicious fool draw near, That cries, we dream, and swears there's no such thing, As this chaste love we sing. Peace, Luxury, thou art like one of those Who, being at sea, suppose, Because they move, the continent doth so. No, Vice, we let thee know, Though thy wild thoughts with sparrows' wings do flie, Turtles can chastly die ; And yet (in this t' express ourselves more clear) We do not number here Such spirits as are only continent, Because lust's means are spent : Or those, who doubt the common mouth of fame, 70 And for their place and name, Cannot so safely sin : their chastity Is mere necessity. Nor mean we those, whom vows and conscience Have fill'd with abstinence : Though we acknowledge, who can so abstain, Makes a most blessed gain. He that for love of goodness hateth ill, Is more crown-worthy still, Than he, which for sin's penalty forbears ; 80 His heart sins, though he fears. But we propose a person like our Dove, Graced with a Phoenix' love ; A beauty of that clear and sparkling light, Would make a day of night, And turn the blackest sorrows to bright joys ; Whose odorous breath destroys All taste of bitterness, and makes the air As sweet as she is fair. A body so harmoniously composed, 90 As if nature disclosed All her best symmetry in that one feature ! O, so divine a creature, Who could be false to ? chiefly, when he knows How only she bestows The wealthy treasure of her love on him ; Making his fortune swim In the full flood of her admired perfection ? What savage, brute affection, Would not be fearful to offend a dame 100 Of this excelling frame ? Much more a noble, and right generous mind, To virtuous moods inclined That knows the weight of guilt ; he will refrain From thoughts of such a strain, 110
- 55. And to hissense object this sentence ever, "Man may securely sin, but safely never." XII. — EPISTLE TO ELIZABETH COUNTESS OF RUTLAND. MADAM, Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold, And almost every vice, almighty gold, That which, to boot with hell, is thought worth heaven, And for it, life, conscience, yea souls are given, Toils, by grave custom, up and down the court, To every squire, or groom, that will report Well or ill, only all the following year, Just to the weight their this day's presents bear ; While it makes huishers serviceable men, And some one apteth to be trusted then, Though never after ; whiles it gains the voice Of some grand peer, whose air doth make rejoice The fool that gave it ; who will want and weep, When his proud patron's favors are asleep ; While thus it buys great grace, and hunts poor fame ; Runs between man and man ; 'tween dame, and dame ; Solders crack'd friendship ; makes love last a day ; Or perhaps less : whilst gold bears all this sway, I, that have none to send you, send you verse. 10 A present which, if elder writs rehearse The truth of times, was once of more esteem, Than this our gilt, nor golden age can deem, When gold was made no weapon to cut throats, Or put to flight Astrea, when her ingóts Were yet unfound, and better placed in earth, Than here, to give pride fame, and peasants birth, But let this dross carry what price it will With noble ignorants, and let them still Turn upon scorned verse, their quarter-face : 20 With you, I know, my offering will find grace. For what a sin 'gainst your great father's spirit, Were it to think, that you should not inherit His love unto the Muses, when his skill Almost you have, or may have when you will ! Wherein wise nature you a dowry gave, Worth an estate, treble to that you have. Beauty I know is good, and blood is more ; Riches thought most ; but, madam, think what store The world hath seen, which all these had in trust, 30 And now lie lost in their forgotten dust. It is the Muse alone, can raise to heaven, And at her strong arm's end, hold up, and even, The souls she loves. Those other glorious notes, Inscribed in touch or marble, or the coats 40
- 56. Painted, or carv'dupon our great men's tombs, Or in their windows, do but prove the wombs That bred them, graves : when they were born they died, That had no muse to make their fame abide. How many equal with the Argive queen, Have beauty known, yet none so famous seen ? Achilles was not first, that valiant was, Or, in an army's head, that lock'd in brass Gave killing strokes. There were brave men before Ajax, or Idomen, or all the store That Homer brought to Troy ; yet none so live, Because they lack'd the sacred pen could give Like life unto them. Who heav'd Hercules Unto the stars, or the Tindarides ? Who placed Jason's Argo in the sky, 50 Or set bright Ariadne's crown so high ? Who made a lamp of Berenice's hair Or lifted Cassiopea in her chair, But only poets, rapt with rage divine ? And such, or my hopes fail, shall make you shine. You, and that other star, that purest light, Of all Lucina's train, Lucy the bright ; Than which a nobler heaven itself knows not ; Who, though she hath a better verser got, Or poet, in the court-account, than I, 60 And who doth me, though I not him, envý, Yet for the timely favors she hath done, To my less sanguine muse, wherein she hath won My grateful soul, the subject of her powers, I have already used some happy hours, To her remembrance ; which when time shall bring To curious light, to notes I then shall sing, Will prove old Orpheus' act no tale to be : For I shall move stocks, stones, no less than he. Then all that have but done my Muse least grace, 70 Shall thronging come, and boast the happy place They hold in my strange poems, which, as yet, Had not their form touch'd by an English wit. There, like a rich and golden pyramed, Borne up by statues, shall I rear your head Above your under-carved ornaments, And shew how to the life my soul presents Your form imprest there : not with tickling rhymes, Or common-places, filch'd, that take these times, But high and noble matter, such as flies 80 From brains entranced, and fill'd with extasies ; Moods, which the godlike Sidney oft did prove, And your brave friend and mine so well did love. Who, wheresoe'er he be — The rest is lost. 90
- 57. XIII. — EPISTLETO KATHARINE LADY AUBIGNY. 'Tis grown almost a danger to speak true Of any good mind, now ; there are so few. The bad, by number, are so fortified, As what they have lost t' expect, they dare deride. So both the prais'd and praisers suffer ; yet, For others ill ought none their good forget. I therefore, who profess myself in love With every virtue, wheresoe'er it move, And howsoever ; as I am at feud With sin and vice, though with a throne endued, And, in this name, am given out dangerous By arts, and practice of the vicious, Such as suspect themselves, and think it fit, For their own capital crimes, to indict my wit ; I that have suffer'd this ; and though forsook Of fortune, have not alter'd yet my look, Or so myself abandon'd, as because Men are not just, or keep no holy laws Of nature and society, I should faint ; 10 Or fear to draw true lines, 'cause others paint : I, madam, am become your praiser ; where, If it may stand with your soft blush, to hear Yourself but told unto yourself, and see In my character what your features be, You will not from the paper slightly pass : No lady, but at some time loves her glass. And this shall be no false one, but as much Remov'd, as you from need to have it such. Look then, and see your self — I will not say 20 Your beauty, for you see that every day ; And so do many more : all which can call It perfect, proper, pure, and natural, Not taken up o' the doctors, but as well As I, can say and see it doth excel ; That asks but to be censured by the eyes : And in those outward forms, all fools are wise. Nor that your beauty wanted not a dower, Do I reflect. Some alderman has power, Or cozening farmer of the customs, so 30 To advance his doubtful issue, and o'erflow A prince's fortune : these are gifts of chance, And raise not virtue ; they may vice enhance. My mirror is more subtle, clear, refined, And.takes and gives the beauties of the mind ; Though it reject not those of fortune : such As blood, and match. Wherein, how more than much Are you engaged to your happy fate, For such a lot ! that mixt you with a state 40
- 58. Of so greattitle, birth, but virtue most, Without which all the rest were sounds, or lost. 'Tis only that can time and chance defeat : For he that once is good, is ever great. Wherewith then, madam, can you better pay This blessing of your stars, than by that way Of virtue, which you tread ? What if alone, Without companions ? 'tis safe to have none. In single paths dangers with ease are watch'd ; Contagion in the press is soonest catch'd. This makes, that wisely you decline your life 50 Far from the maze of custom, error, strife, And keep an even, and unalter'd gait ; Not looking by, or back, like those that wait Times and occasions, to start forth, and seem. Which though the turning world may disesteem, Because that studies spectacles and shows, And after varied, as fresh objects, goes, Giddy with change, and therefore cannot see Right, the right way ; yet must your comfort be Your conscience, and not wonder if none asks 60 For truth's complexion, where they all wear masks. Let who will follow fashions and attires, Maintain their liegers forth for foreign wires, Melt down their husbands land, to pour away On the close groom and page, on new-year's day, And almost all days after, while they live ; They find it both so witty, and safe to give. Let them on powders, oils, and paintings spend, Till that no usurer, nor his bawds dare lend Them or their officers ; and no man know, 70 Whether it be a face they wear or no. Let them waste body and state ; and after all, When their own parasites laugh at their fall, May they have nothing left, whereof they can Boast, but how oft they have gone wrong to man, And call it their brave sin : for such there be That do sin only for the infamy ; And never think, how vice doth every hour Eat on her clients, and some one devour. You, madam, young have learn'd to shun these shelves, 80 Whereon the most of mankind wreck themselves, And keeping a just course, have early put Into your harbor, and all passage shut 'Gainst storms or pirates, that might charge your peace ; For which you worthy are the glad increase Of your blest womb, made fruitful from above, To pay your lord the pledges of chaste love ; And raise a noble stem, to give the fame To Clifton's blood, that is denied their name. Grow, grow, fair tree ! and as thy branches shoot, 90
- 59. Hear what theMuses sing about thy root, By me, their priest, if they can aught divine : Before the moons have fill'd their triple trine, To crown the burden which you go withal, It shall a ripe and timely issue fall, T' expect the honors of great AUBIGNY ; And greater rites, yet writ in mystery, But which the fates forbid me to reveal. Only thus much out of a ravish'd zeal Unto your name, and goodness of your life, 100 They speak ; since you are truly that rare wife, Other great wives may blush at, when they see What your tried manners are, what theirs should be ; How you love one, and him you should, how still You are depending on his word and will ; Not fashion'd for the court, or strangers' eyes ; But to please him, who is the dearer prize Unto himself, by being so dear to you. This makes, that your affections still be new, And that your souls conspire, as they were gone 110 Each into other, and had now made one. Live that one still ! and as long years do pass, Madam, be bold to use this truest glass ; Wherein your form you still the same shall find ; Because nor it can change, nor such a mind. 120 XIV. — ODE TO SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY, ON HIS BIRTH-DAY. Now that the hearth is crown'd with smiling fire, And some do drink, and some do dance, Some ring, Some sing, And all do strive to advance The gladness higher ; Wherefore should I Stand silent by, Who not the least, Both love the cause, and authors of the feast ? Give me my cup, but from the Thespian well, That I may tell to SIDNEY what This day Doth say, And he may think on that Which I do tell ; When all the noise Of these forced joys, Are fled and gone, 10 And he with his best Genius left alone. 20
- 60. This day says,then, the number of glad years Are justly summ'd, that make you man; Your vow Must now Strive all right ways it can, T' outstrip your peers : Since he doth lack Of going back Little, whose will Doth urge him to run wrong, or to stand still. Nor can a little of the common store Of nobles' virtue, shew in you ; Your blood So good And great, must seek for new, And study more : Not weary, rest On what's deceas't. For they, that swell 30 With dust of ancestors, in graves but dwell. 'Twill be exacted of your name, whose son, Whose nephew, whose grandchild you are ; And men Will then Say you have follow'd far, When well begun : Which must be now, They teach you how, And he that stays 40 To live until to-morrow', hath lost two days. So may you live in honor, as in name, If with this truth you be inspired ; So may This day Be more, and long desired ; And with the flame Of love be bright, As with the light Of bonfires ! then 50 The birth-day shines, when logs not burn, but men. 6o XV. — TO HEAVEN. Good and great GOD ! can I not think of thee, But it must straight my melancholy be ? Is it interpreted in me disease,
- 61. That, laden withmy sins, I seek for ease ? O be thou witness, that the reins dost know And hearts of all, if I be sad for show ; And judge me after : if I dare pretend To aught but grace, or aim at other end. As thou art all, so be thou all to me, First, midst, and last, converted One, and Three ! 10 My faith, my hope, my love ; and in this state, My judge, my witness, and my advocate. Where have I been this while exiled from thee, And whither rapt, now thou but stoop'st to me ? Dwell, dwell here still ! O, being every where, How can I doubt to find thee ever here ? I know my state, both full of shame and scorn, Conceived in sin, and unto labor born, Standing with fear, and must with horror fall, And destined unto judgment, after all. 20 I feel my griefs too, and there scarce is ground, Upon my flesh t' inflict another wound : Yet dare I not complain, or wish for death, With holy PAUL, lest it be thought the breath Of discontent ; or that these prayers be For weariness of life, not love of thee. F I N I S. Ben Jonson 1572?–1637 English dramatist, poet, masque writer, and critic. INTRODUCTION A prolific Elizabethan playwright and man of letters, Jonson is among the greatest writers and theorists of English literature. Highly learned in the classics, he profoundly influenced the coming Augustan age through his emphasis on the precepts of Horace, Aristotle, and other early thinkers. In his day, Jonson's professional reputation was often obscured by that of the man himself: bold, independent, aggressive, fashioning himself an image as the sole arbiter of taste, standing for erudition and the supremacy of classical models against what he perceived as the general populace's ignorant preference for the sensational. While he is now remembered primarily for his satirical comedies, he also distinguished himself as a seminal figure in English literary criticism, as a preeminent writer of courtly masques, and as a poet. Among his most enduring contributions to the latter form are the classically influenced lyrics of his Epigrams (1616) and the pastoral poem "To Penshurst" contained in his collection The Forest (1616). Biographical Information Jonson was born in London shortly after the death of his father, a minister who claimed descent from Scottish gentry. Despite a poor upbringing, he was educated at Westminster School under the renowned antiquary William Camden. He apparently left his schooling unwillingly to work with his stepfather as a bricklayer, and
- 62. later served asa volunteer in the Low Countries during the Dutch war with Spain. Returning to England by 1592, Jonson married Anne Lewis about three years later. Although it appears that the union was unhappy, it produced several children, all of whom Jonson outlived. In the years following his marriage he became an actor, and wrote respected emendations and additions to Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy (1592). By 1597 he was writing for Philip Henslowe's theatrical company. That year, Henslowe employed Jonson to finish Thomas Nashe's satire The Isle of Dogs (now lost), but the play was suppressed for alleged seditious content and Jonson was jailed for a short time. In 1598 the earliest of his extant works, Every Man in His Humour, was produced by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. That same year he was again jailed for killing actor Gabriel Spencer in a duel. In 1602 he separated from his wife and was imprisoned a third time in 1605 for his work with John Marston (a former rival playwright) and George Chapman on East-ward Hoe. He wrote all of his major comedies between 1606 and 1616, the later date marking the publication of his Workes, which, in addition to the plays, included the poetic collections Epigrams and The Forest, as well as his early masques produced with the collaboration of designer/architect Inigo Jones. That same year he was also named Poet Laureate, and for the next decade focused his energies on the production of masques at the court of King James I. Fire destroyed his library in 1623, and when James I died in 1625, Jonson lost much of his influence at court. In 1628 he suffered the first of several strokes that would later incapacitate him. Jonson died in 1637 and was interred at Westminster Abbey. His third collection of poems, Underwood, appeared posthumously in the 1640 edition of his Workes. Major Works Jonson's major poetic works combine the classical forms of lyric, epistle, ode, elegy, and epithalamion with the native English sense of affect or feeling. Many of them are poems of praise and written within the obligatory confines of the patronage system. From Epigrams, the short poems influenced by the verse of the Roman poet Martial, "On My First Daughter" and "On My First Son" are personal lyric consolations. This collection also contains the tender "Epitaph on S. P., a Child of Q. Elizabeth's Chapel." The Forest includes the pastoral "To Penshurst," Jonson's country house poem celebrating the poetic and political largesse of the Sidney family; the work is regarded as a model of the topographical form. In The Forest are two versions of "Song: To Celia," one dramatizing the carpe diem sentiment expressed by Volpone in Jonson's play of the same name, the other known by its first line, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." Underwood contains "A Celebration of Charis in Ten Lyric Pieces," an experiment in voice and the transformative power of language, and the Pindaric Ode dedicated "To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morison." The plays Sejanus His Fall (1603) and Catiline His Conspiracy (1611) established Jonson's reputation as a political tragedian; he is perhaps best known, however, for his satiric comedies Volpone (1606), Epicoene (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fayre (1614), which are portraits of the greed and hypocrisy Jonson saw in contemporary London. His Timber; or, Discoveries (1641), is considered the first formulation of applied literary principles in English, and predates the critical works of John Dryden. Critical Reception Jonson's immediate poetic reputation is traceable to the highly imitative works of his literary followers, known as the "Sons" or "Tribe of Ben," which included Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, and the later Cavalier poets. His works were highly regarded during his lifetime, although his later plays, "dotages" as Dryden called them, were not well received. His controlled lines were models for the eighteenth century verse of writers such as Alexander Pope, who once observed that Jonson "brought critical learning into vogue." The nineteenth century Romantics decried his lack of passion and thought his comedies better than his tragedies. In the twentieth century the New Critical movement overlooked Jonson's poems in favor of the work of the Metaphysicals. His work, including his long neglected poetry, has, however, enjoyed a renaissance of critical attention in the late twentieth century from new historical theorists interested in the material issues of patronage and censorship that inform his poetics.
- 63. To Celia... WhenI came across the above image, I immediately thought of the song, "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes", then found that it was a poem by Ben Jonson, "Song: To Celia" set to an existing tune of the time and later, in 1790, a composition by J.W. Callcott, the tune we know today. To Celia A romance poem rendered in English by Ben Jonson From a Love Letter by Philostratus of Athens or Philostratus of Lemnos Jonson published the poem in 1616 Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss within the cup, And I'll not ask for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise, Doth crave a drink divine, But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honoring thee As giving it a hope that there It could not withered be; But thou thereon didst only breathe
- 64. And sent'st backto me, Since when it grows and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee. "To Celia" is one of the most frequently quoted poems in English literature. Undoubtedly, most literate persons are familiar with the opening line, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." Indeed, many people think of that line as the title of the poem. Ben Jonson (1572-1637), a celebrated playwright and poet of the Shakespearean age, often receives full credit for composing those words, as well as the lines in the rest of the poem; instead, he should receive credit for translating or paraphrasing them. It was a Greek named Philostratus who originated the words in his own language. But which Philostratus? Scholars identify two writers of this name as candidates for authorship. The first was Lucius Flavius Philostratus (170 to 245-8? AD), a Greek writer sometimes called Philostratus the Athenian. He long received credit for penning the lines in his love letters until some scholars credited his relative, Philostratus of Lemnos (born 190AD), as the likely author. The authorship question has not been resolved.