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:

    The faery beam upon you,
    The stars to glisten on you,
    A moon of light
    In the noon of night
    Till the firedrake hath o’er gone you.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    ‘Tis no sin love’s fruit to steal;
    But the sweet theft to reveal,
    To be taken, to be seen,
    These have crimes accounted been.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

    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.’
    Ben Jonson (c. 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)

    And have sought, to give new birth,
    In baths to steep him;
    But, being so much too good for earth,
    Heaven vows to keep him.
    Ben Jonson (1572–1637)