Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems. A man of vast reading and a seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy, Jonson had an unparalleled breadth of influence on Jacobean and Caroline playwrights and poets.

Read more about Ben Jonson:  Relationship With Shakespeare, Reception and Influence, Biographies of Ben Jonson

Famous quotes by ben jonson:

    This made you first to know the Why
    You liked, then after to apply
    That liking; and approach so one the tother,
    Till either grew a portion of the other;
    Each styled by his end,
    The copy of his friend.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    Sweet Swan of Avon! what a sight it were
    To see thee in our waters yet appear,
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    Now, Penshurst, they that will proportion thee
    With other edifices, when they see
    Those proud, ambitious heaps, and nothing else,
    May say, their lords have built, but thy lord dwells.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    I now thinke, Love is rather deafe, than blind,
    For else it could not be,
    That she,
    Whom I adore so much, should so slight me,
    And cast my love behind:
    I’m sure my language to her, was as sweet,
    And every close did meet
    In sentence, of as subtile feet,
    As hath the youngest Hee,
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    My title’s sealed. Those that for claps do write,
    Let pui’nies, porters’, players’ praise delight,
    And, till they burst, their backs like asses load:
    A man should seek great glory, and not broad.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)