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Ben Jonson (born June 11?, 1572, London, England—died August 6, 1637, London) was an English Stuart dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic. He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I.
- Clifford Leech
In the wake of Montaigne, these short prose pieces took off: Francis Bacon became the first person to publish essays in English (1597), while Shakespeare’s contemporary, Ben Jonson, gave us the first recorded use of the word ‘essayist’ (1609).
It was prepared for the Earl of Newcastle, probably over the period c. 1630-4, and contains texts of twenty-eight poems by Jonson, as well as texts of several of his letters and entertainments. Several of the poems it includes preserve early versions.
Ben Jonson occupies by common consent the second place among English dramatists of the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He was a man of contraries. For “twelve years a papist,” he was also—in fact though not in title—Protestant England’s first poet laureate.
- Clifford Leech
In 1616 Jonson published his Workes, becoming the first English writer to dignify his dramas by terming them “works,” and for this perceived presumption he was soundly ridiculed. In that year Jonson assumed the responsibilities and privileges of Poet Laureate, though without formal appointment.
Jul 20, 2020 · Until the last few decades, attention to Ben Jonson’s (1572-1637) poetry focused largely on the famous songs and the moving epitaphs on children. Such choices were not ill-advised, but they are unrepresentative.
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by Abraham van Blyenberch, c. 1617. © National Portrait Gallery, London. Jonson, Benjamin [Ben] (1572–1637), poet and playwright, was born on 11 June 1572, probably in or near London. He was of Scottish descent, and retained a keen interest in the country of his forebears.
