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:

    Thou art a monument without a tomb,
    And art alive still while thy book doth live
    And we have wits to read and praise to give.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    Some bring a capon, some a rural cake,
    Some nuts, some apples; some that think they make
    The better cheeses bring ‘em, 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.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    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.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    Though beautie be the marke of praise,
    And yours of whom I sing be such
    As not the world can praise too much,
    Yet is’t your vertue now I raise.
    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)