To King James
An advice column verse. Jonson’s epigram to James I suggests strongly that any memorable reign is accompanied by patronage of the literary arts. No memorable poems, no memorable legacy of King James.
On My First Son
One of Jonson’s most famous poems is also an epigram. It is a deeply heart-moving epitaph for his son Benjamin who died a victim of the plague.
Song: To Celia
Representative of an entire class of poetry that Jonson produced took their subjects and ideas from the writings of ancient texts. Jonson would then work on producing an entirely original work that still remained the essence of the source. The source for this particular example was an ancient Greek named Philostratus and Jonson fashioned a coherent work by piecing together five different works of prose.
One of the original examples of what blossomed into a genre of British verse known as country house poem. Taking its cue from this and the poem of another published five years earlier, the country house poem personifies the actual physical structure as the embodiment of the character of its owners. Penshurst was the ancestral home of Sir Philip Sidney.
Epistle to Elizabeth Countesse of Rutland
The Sidney home was far from the only subject which inspired Jonson to write. The Elizabeth of this poem is Philip Sidney’s daughter. He also wrote a poem in celebration of the birthday of Philip’s nephew, Sir William Sidney.
An Execration upon Vulcan
An execration is a highly emotional angry outburst directed toward the subject stimulating that rate. Vulcan is the Roman god of fire. The anger resulted from a fire which burned much of Jonson’s home and completely devastated his personal library. The execration is in the form of asking why, Vulcan, why?
Song: Still to be Neat
The first stanza is a declaration to a woman of how beautiful she appears on the surface, while lacking the same within. The second stanza indicates the author prefers exactly the reverse. Traditionally interpretation is that the song is not about a woman’s beauty at all, but poetry which is forthright versus poetry which disguises meaning beneath symbolism.
To the Memory of My Beloved Master William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us
Great rivals for the title of the greatest dramatist in the English language following the early exit of Christopher Marlowe, Jonson uses this poem to publicly declare with great sincerity his admiration for William Shakespeare.
An Epistle answering to One that asked to be Sealed of the Tribe of Ben
As the title suggests, this poem is an answer in verse to a letter requesting the honor of joining that special group of Jonson’s acolytes known as the Tribe of Ben. Such an honor was prestigious and limited to the most ardent supporters of King James, a group known as the Cavalier Poets.
To John Donne
From one legendary poet to another. Here Jonson is writing that he values the opinion of a master of letters on the worth of his epigrams by flattering Donne’s own talent which rises far above all others.
To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morison
For a time, a fad spread throughout the poets of England: writing odes which imitated the style of the odes of ancient Greek writer, Pindar. This verse represents one of the earliest of England’s many Pindaric odes to follow, thus situating Jonson as one of the progenitors of this genre as well as the country house poem genre. What makes Cary and Morison a pair of men so noble they are worthy of the honor appears to be limited mainly to the fact that both were staunch loyalist royalists who remained committed supporters of King James.
