Contents
Note by the General Editors
Introduction
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Chronological Table of Jonson’s Life
Abbreviations
THE POEMS
POEMS 1597-1616
1 Song from The Case is Altered
2 From Thomas Palmer, The Sprite of Trees and Herbs
3 Prologus, Poem, Songs and Epilogus from Cynthia’s Revels
4 From Nicholas Breton, Melancholic Humours. In Authorem
5 An Epistle to a Friend
6 From England’s Parnassus: Murder. Peace. Riches
7 [On Thomas Nashe]
8 From Love’s Martyr. The Phoenix Analysed. Ode ἔνϑουσιαστιϰκὴ
9 Prologue, Songs and Poems from Poetaster
10 Ode ‘If men and times were now’
11 A Speech out of Lucan
12 From Hugh Holland, Pancharis. Ode ἀλληγοριϰκὴ
13 B. J. HIS PANEGYRE on the happy entrance of James our sovereign to his
first high session of Parliament
14 From Thomas Wright, The Passions of the Mind in General. To the Author
15 Prologue from Every Man in His Humour
16 Songs from The Masque of Blackness
17 Songs and Epithalamion from Hymenaei
18 Prologue, Songs and Epilogue from Volpone
19 Song from An Entertainment at Theobalds
20 Songs from The Entertainment for the Merchant Taylors Company
21 Songs from The Masque of Beauty
22 Song and Epithalanion from The Haddington Masque
23 Charms and Songs from The Masque of Queens
24 Song from The Entertainment at Britain's Burse
25 Epitaph on Cecilia Bulstrode
26 From John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess. To the Worthy Author,
Master John Fletcher
27 Prologues and Song from Epicene
28 Songs from Oberon, The Fairy Prince
29 Songs from Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly
30 From Coryate’s Crudities. Certain Opening and Drawing Distichs
The CHARACTER of the Famous Odcombian
To the Right Noble Tom Tell-Truth of His Travails
31 From Coryate’s Crambe. Certain Verses Written Upon Coryate’s Crudities
32 Songs from Love Restored
33 From Thomas Farnaby’s Juvenal
34 From Thomas Farnaby’s Persius
35 From Thomas Farnaby’s Seneca
36 A Speech presented unto King James at a Tilting
37 From John Stephens, Cynthia’s Revenge.
To His Much and Worthily Esteemed Friend the Author
38 To the Most Noble, and Above His Titles, Robert, Earl of Somerset
39 Songs from The Irish Masque at Court
40 From Christopher Brooke, The Ghost of Richard the Third.
To His Friend the Author Upon His Richard
41 From The Husband. To the Worthy Author on The Husband
42 Prologue, Songs and Epilogue from Bartholomew Fair
43 Song from Mercury Vindicated
44 Martial. [Epigram 10.47]
45 Songs from The Golden Age Restored
46 From William Browne, Britannia's Pastorals.
To my Truly-Beloved Friend, Master Browne On His Pastorals
EPIGRAMS.
TO THE GREAT EXAMPLE OF HONOUR AND VIRTUE THE MOST NOBLE WILLIAM, EARL OF PEMBROKE
1. To the Reader
2 To My Book
3 To My Bookseller
4 To King James
5 On the Union
6 To Alchemists
7 On the New Hot-House
8 On a Robbery
9 To All to Whom I Write
10 To My Lord Ignorant
11 On Something that Walks Somewhere
12 On Lieutenant Shift
13 To Doctor Empiric
14 To William Camden
15 On Court-Worm
16 To Brain-Hardy
17 To the Learned Critic
18 To My Mere English Censurer
19 On Sir Cod the Perfumed
20 To the Same Sir Cod
21 On Reformed Gamester
22 On My First Daughter
23 To John Donne
24 To the Parliament
25 On Sir Voluptuous Beast
26 On the Same Beast
27 On Sir John Roe
28 On Don Surly
29 To Sir Annual Tilter
30 To Person Guilty
31 On Bank the Usurer
32 On Sir John Roe
33 To the Same
34 Of Death
35 To King James
36 To the Ghost of Martial
37 On Cheverel the Lawyer
38 To Person Guilty
39 On Old Colt
40 On Margaret Ratcliffe
41 On Gypsy
42 On Giles and Joan
43 To Robert, Earl of Salisbury
44 On Chuff, Banks the Usurer’s Kinsman
45 On My First Son
46 To Sir Luckless Woo-All
47 To the Same
48 On Mongrel Esquire
49 To Playwright
50 To Sir Cod
51 To King James, Upon the Happy False Rumour of his Death
52 To Censorious Courtling
53 To Old-End Gatherer
54 On Cheverel
55 To Francis Beaumont
56 On Poet-Ape
57 On Bawds and Usurers
58 To Groom Idiot
59 On Spies
60 To William, Lord Monteagle
61 To Fool, or Knave
62 To Fine Lady Would-Be
63 To Robert, Earl of Salisbury
64 To the Same, Upon the Accession of the Treasurership to Him
65 To My Muse
66 To Sir Henry Cary
67 To Thomas, Earl of Suffolk
68 On Playwright
69 To Pertinax Cob
70 To William Roe
71 On Court-Parrot
72 To Courtling
73 To Fine Grand
74 To Thomas, Lord Chancellor Egerton
75 On Lip the Teacher
76 On Lucy, Countess of Bedford
77 To One That Desired Me Not to Name Him
78 To Hornet
79 To Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland
80 Of Life and Death
81 To Prowl the Plagiary
82 On Cashiered Captain Surly
83 To a Friend
84 To Lucy, Countess of Bedford
85 To Sir Henry Goodyere
86 To the Same
87 On Captain Hazard the Cheater
88 On English Monsieur
89 To Edward Alleyn
90 On Mill, My Lady’s Woman
91 To Sir Horace Vere
92 The New Cry
93 To Sir John Radcliffe
94 To Lucy, Countess of Bedford, With Master Donne’s Satires
95 To Sir Henry Savile
96 To John Donne
97 On the New Motion
98 To Sir Thomas Roe
99 To the Same
100 On Playwright
101 Inviting a Friend to Supper
102 To William, Earl of Pembroke
103 To Mary, Lady Wroth
104 To Susan, Countess of Montgomery
105 To Mary, Lady Wroth
106 To Sir Edward Herbert
107 To Captain Hungry
108 To True Soldiers
109 To Sir Henry Neville
110 To Clement Edmondes, On his Caesar’s Commentaries
111 To the Same, on the Same
112 To a Weak Gamester in Poetry
113 To Sir Thomas Overbury
114 To Mistress Philip Sidney
115 On the Town’s Honest Man
116 To Sir William Jephson
117 On Groin
118 On Gut
119To Sir Rafe Shelton
120 Epitaph on S. P. a child of Q. Elizabeth’s Chapel
121 To Benjamin Rudyerd
122 To the Same
123 To the Same
124 Epitaph on Elizabeth, L.H.
125 To Sir William Uvedale
126 To his lady, then Mistress Cary
127 To Esmé, Lord Aubigny
128 To William Roe
129 To Mime
130 To Alfonso Ferrabosco, on his Book
131 To the Same
132 To Master Joshua Sylvester
133 On the Famous Voyage
THE FOREST
1 Why I Write Not of Love
2 To Penshurst
3 To Sir Robert Wroth
4 To the World: A Farewell for a Gentlewoman, virtuous and noble
5 Song To Celia
6 To the Same
7 Song That Women are but Men’s Shadows
8 To Sickness
9 Song To Celia
10(a) Proludium
10 ‘And must I sing?’
11 Epode
12 Epistle To Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland
13 Epistle To Katherine, Lady Aubigny
14 Ode to Sir William Sidney, on his Birthday
15 To Heaven
POEMS 1616-1636
47 Songs from Christmas His Masque
48 Songs from The Vision of Delight
49 Songs from Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue
50 From George Chapman, The Georgics of Hesiod. To My Worthy and
Honoured Friend Master George Chapman
51.1 To Master Ben Jonson in his Journey By Master Craven.
51.2 This Was Master Ben Jonson’s Answer of the Sudden
52.1 A Grace by Ben Jonson Extempore Before King James
52.2 A Form of a Grace
52.3 Ben Jonson's Grace before King James
53 Charles Cavendish to His Posterity
54 Leges Convivales Quod felix, faustumque in Apolline sit
55 Verses Over the Door at the Entrance into the Apollo
56 Songs from Pan’s Anniversary, or The Shepherd's Holy-day
57 Songs from A Masque of the Metamorphosed Gypsies
58 Ballad from The Masque of Augurs
59 From James Mabbe, The Rogue. On the Author, Work, and Translator
60 From Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.
To the Reader
61 From Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.
To the Memory of My Belovèd, The Author Master William Shakespeare
And What He Hath Left Us
62 Song from Neptune’s Triumph
63 To the Memory of That Most Honoured Lady Jane,
Eldest Daughter to Cuthbert, Lord Ogle, and Countess of Shrewsbury
64 Prologues and Epilogue from The Staple of News
65 From Lucan’s Pharsalia. To My Chosen Friend … Thomas May, Esquire
66 From Michael Drayton, The Battle of Agincourt. The Vision of Ben Jonson
on the Muses of his Friend Michael Drayton
67 [Song. Death and Love Paralleled]
68 Prologue, Song and Epilogues from The New Inn
69 Ode to Himself
70 Epitaph on Katherine, Lady Ogle
71 From Sir John Beaumont, Bosworth Field. On the Honoured Poems
of His Honoured Friend, Sir John Beaumont, Baronet
72 From Edward Filmer, French Court Airs. To My Worthy Friend,
Master Edward Filmer, On His Work Published
73 Euclia’s Hymn. From Love's Triumph Through Callipolis
74 Song from Chloridia
75 An Expostulation with Inigo Jones
76 To Inigo, Marquis Would-Be: A Corollary
77 To A Friend: An Epigram of Him
78.1 Epigram. To my kind friend Mr Ben: Johnson upon his epigram to the Lord Treasurer
78.2 To My Detractor
79 From The Northern Lass. To My Old Faithful Servant … The Author
of this Work, Master Richard Brome
80.1 Mr Gil to Mr Ben: Johnson upon the occasion of his Magnetic Lady
80.2 [An Answer to Alexander Gil]
81 [A Song of Welcome to King Charles]
82 [A Song of the Moon]
83 Songs from The King’s Entertainment at Welbeck
84 From Alice Sutcliffe, Meditations of Man’s Mortality.
To Mistress Alice Sutcliffe, on Her Divine Meditations
85 From Joseph Rutter, The Shepherd’s Holiday.
To My Dear Son and Right Learned Friend, Master Joseph Rutter
86 From Annalia Dubrensia. An Epigram to My Jovial Good Friend
Master Robert Dover
THE UNDERWOOD
TO THE READER
1.1 The Sinner’s Sacrifice to the Holy Trinity
1.2 A Hymn to God the Father
1.3 A Hymn on the Nativity of My Saviour
2 A Celebration of Charis in Ten Lyric Pieces
2.1 His Excuse for Loving
2.2 How He Saw Her
2.3 What He Suffered
2.4 Her Triumph
2.5 His Discourse with Cupid
2.6 Claiming a Second Kiss by Desert
2.7 Begging Another, on Colour of Mending the Former
2.8 Urging Her of a Promise
2.9 Her Man Described by Her Own Dictamen
2.10 Another Lady’s Exception, Present at the Hearing
3 The Musical Strife, in a Pastoral Dialogue
4 A Song
5 In the Person of Womankind: A Song Apologetic
6 Another: In Defence of their Inconstancy: A Song
7 A Nymph’s Passion
8 The Hourglass
9 My Picture Left in Scotland
10 Against Jealousy
11 The Dream
12 An Epitaph on Master Vincent Corbett
13 An Epistle to Sir Edward Sackville, Now Earl of Dorset
14 An Epistle to Master John Selden
15 An Epistle to a Friend, to Persuade Him to the Wars
16 An Epitaph on Master Philip Gray
17 Epistle To a Friend
18 An Elegy (‘Can beauty, that did prompt me’)
19 An Elegy (‘By those bright eyes’)
20 A Satirical Shrub
21 A Little Shrub Growing By
22 An Elegy (‘Though beauty be the mark of praise’)
23 An Ode. To Himself
24 The Mind of the Frontispiece to a Book
25 An Ode to James, Earl of Desmond, Writ in Queen Elizabeth’s Time
26 An Ode (‘High-spirited friend’)
27 An Ode (‘Helen, did Homer never see’)
28 A Sonnet: To the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth
29 A Fit of Rhyme against Rhyme
30 An Epigram on William, Lord Burghley, Lord High Treasurer of England
31 An Epigram: To Thomas, Lord Ellesmere, The Last Term He Sat Chancellor
32 Another to Him (for the same)
33 An Epigram to the Counsellor that pleaded and carried the cause
34 An Epigram. To the Smallpox
35 An Epitaph. On Elizabeth Chute
36 A Song
37 An Epistle to a Friend
38 An Elegy (‘’Tis true, I’m broke!’)
[39 See Dubia, Headnote.]
40 An Elegy (‘That love’s a bitter sweet’)
41 An Elegy (‘Since you must go’)
42 An Elegy (‘Let me be what I am’)
43 An Execration upon Vulcan
44 A Speech According to Horace
45 An Epistle to Master Arthur Squibb
46 An Epigram on Sir Edward Coke, When He Was Lord Chief Justice of England
47 An Epistle Answering to One That Asked to be Sealed of the Tribe of Ben
48 The Dedication of the King’s New Cellar
49 An Epigram on the Court Pucelle
50 An Epigram: To the Honoured –––– Countess of ––––
51 Lord Bacon’s Birthday
52a A Poem Sent Me by Sir William Burlase
52b My Answer: The Poet to the Painter
53 An Epigram to William, Earl of Newcastle
54 Epistle to Master Arthur Squibb
55 To Master John Burgess (‘Would God, my Burgess’)
56 Epistle To My Lady Covell
57 To Master John Burgess (‘Father John Burgess’)
58 Epigram, to My Bookseller
59 An Epigram to William, Earl of Newcastle
60 An Epitaph on Henry, Lord La Ware
61 An Epigram
62 An Epigram to King Charles, for a hundred pounds he sent me
in my sickness. 1629
63 To King Charles and Queen Mary for the Loss of their First-Born:
An Epigram Consolatory. 1629
64 An Epigram to Our Great and Good King Charles,
On His Anniversary Day. 1629
65 An Epigram on the Prince’s Birth. 1630
66 An Epigram to the Queen, then lying in. 1630
67 An Ode, or Song by all the Muses in Celebration of Her Majesty’s Birthday. 1630
68 An Epigram to the Household. 1630
69 Epigram. To a Friend and Son
70 To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair,
Sir LUCIUS CARY and Sir HENRY MORISON
71 To the Right Honourable, the Lord High Treasurer of England.
An Epistle Mendicant. 1631
72 To the King on his Birthday
73 On the Right Honourable and Virtuous Lord Weston, Lord High Treasurer of England, upon the day he was made Earl of Portland. 17 February 1633
74 To the Right Honourable Jerome, Lord Weston: An Ode gratulatory, for his return from his embassy, 1633
75 Epithalamion; or, A Song celebrating the Nuptials of that Noble Gentleman
Master jerome weston … with the Lady frances stuart
76 The Humble Petition of Poor Ben to th’ Best of Monarchs,
Masters, Men, King charles
77 To the Right Honourable, the Lord Treasurer of England: An Epigram
78 An Epigram to My Muse, the Lady Digby, on Her Husband, Sir Kenelm Digby
79 A New Year’s Gift sung to King Charles. 1636
[80, 81 See Dubia]
82 To My Lord the King, On the Christening His Second Son james
83 An Elegy on the Lady Jane Paulet, Marchioness of Winchester
84 Eupheme, or The Fair Fame Left to Posterity Of That Truly Noble Lady,
the Lady Venetia Digby, Late Wife of Sir Kenelm Digby, Knight
84.1 The Dedication of her cradle
84.2 The Song of Her descent
84.3 The Picture of the Body
84.4 The Mind
84.8 Her hopeful issue
84.9 An Elegy on My Muse, the truly honoured Lady, the Lady venetia digby
… Being her ᾺΠΟΘΕѠΣΙΣ
85 The Praises of a Country Life (Horace, Epode 2)
86 (Horace) Ode the First. The Fourth Book. To Venus
87 (Horace) Odes, Book 3.9, To Lydia
88 A Fragment of Petronius Arbiter Translated
89 Martial, Epigram 8.77 Translated
HORACE HIS ART OF POETRY MADE ENGLISH
DUBIA
Ode ‘Scorn, or some humbler fate’
A Petition of the Infant Prince Charles
Poems by other authors included in Underwood
COLLATION
Bibliography of Works Cited
Index of Titles
Index of First Lines
Biography
Tom Cain is Emeritus Professor of Early Modern Literature at Newcastle University. He has worked on Ben Jonson for many years but has also written a study of Tolstoy (1977) and edited Nicholas Hilliard’s Art of Limning (1981), an anthology of Jacobean and Caroline Poetry (1981), and several collections of essays on the early modern period. In 2001, he published an edition of the large collection of poems left in manuscript by Robert Herrick’s patron, Mildmay Fane, Earl of Westmorland, and in 2013, with Ruth Connolly, he edited The Complete Poetry of Robert Herrick. He has written essays on Donne and Jonson and edited Jonson’s Poetaster for the Revels Plays (1995) and Sejanus for the Cambridge Works of Ben Jonson. He is currently completing an edition of Ford’s The Lovers Melancholy for the Oxford Complete Works of John Ford, editing a volume of Waugh’s short stories for the Oxford Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh, and writing a biography of John Donne.
Ruth Connolly is Senior Lecturer in Seventeenth-Century Literature at Newcastle University. She has written essays on the circulation of Stuart lyric poetry in manuscript, on early modern women’s writing and intellectual cultures, and on the poetry of Hester Pulter, Richard Lovelace, and Jonson. In 2011 she edited (with Tom Cain) a collection of essays, ‘Lords of Wine and Oile’: Community and Conviviality in the Poetry of Robert Herrick, and with Christopher Burlinson a special issue of Studies in English Literature 1500–1900 (Winter, 2012) on editing Stuart poetry. This was followed in 2013 by an edition with Tom Cain of The Complete Poetry of Robert Herrick, special issues of The Seventeenth Century on Cavalier writing (2018), and (with Naomi McAreavey) of Literature Compass on the literatures of early modern Ireland (2019). She is currently completing a monograph on the poetics of the body in early modern lyric and researching bookselling in early modern Newcastle.‘Cain and Connolly evince a knowledge of Jonson, his personal circumstances, his intellectual, social, and cultural milieux, and of previous Jonson scholarship that would all be hard to surpass. This, in short, can easily now be considered the indispensable edition of Jonson’s poems – an edition that most serious libraries and dedicated Jonsonians will want and need to own. . . . [P]rofessors Cain and Connolly deserve our immense thanks and congratulations.’ Robert C. Evans, Ben Jonson Journal
