Lesson 18 - English Literature Shakespeare s Contemporaries Ben Jonson Too many times we let our dismal past get in the way of our shining future. What we don t realize is that no matter where we are in life, we can still make something of ourselves. Ben Jonson was no exception to the rule. Though thrown into jail, practically hanged for murder, and suspected in a plot to kill the king, Ben survived and slowly carved out a name for himself as a world-class dramatist and poet. At one point in his life he was out of money, so he joined the army on Holland s side in its fight for independence from Spain. During this time period, he did battle, alone, in front of assembled masses of the Dutch and Spanish armies, against the champion soldier of Spain and won! His real life sparkled with as much adventure as his imagination. The man of letters was a man of action. Birds of a Feather Flock Together Jonson was also a friend of Shakespeare and as his friendship grew so did his great respect for Shakespeare s works. To the Memory of My Beloved Master is an affectionate tribute to him. Its main purpose was to show Shakespeare s preeminence over all other writers. As Shakespeare was buried far away from Chaucer, Spenser, and Beaumont, Jonson approved because he believed that the remarkable quality of his works should set him apart both figuratively and literally from all other poets. 1
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. To the Memory of My Beloved Master Ben Jonson Gazing into To the Memory of My Beloved Master, lines one through twelve state that the wrong reasons for praising Shakespeare are: 1) simple ignorance which will make the praise sound empty; 2) affectionate prejudice which will disregard the truth; 3) or malice, which would attempt to ruin while pretending to flatter. He also states that Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time meaning that Shakespeare s genius is universal, and his works will have meaning throughout time. In the final two lines, Jonson states that the stage has mourned and despaired since Shakespeare s death. One Life Changes Everything With just one life, expired after about fifty years from birth, Shakespeare edified (educated) and entertained minds for all time. One ancient theory of learning states that all knowledge pre-exists in the human brain. Study merely uncovers what is already there. The glory that is Shakespeare s may already be glowing inside your mind, and with a little work in the thought mines, your writing may become a beacon to others. Shine forth, thou Star of Poets, and with rage Or influence, chide or cheer the drooping stage, Which, since thy flight from hence, hath mourned like night, And despairs day, but for thy volume's light. To the Memory of My Beloved Master 2
Robert Herrick An Ode for Him (Ben Jonson) Ah Ben! Say how, or when Shall we thy guests, Meet at those lyric feasts Made at the Sun, The Dog, the Triple Tun? Where we such clusters had, As made us nobly wild, not mad; And yet each verse of thine Out-did the meat, out-did the frolic wine. My Ben! Or come again, Or send to us Thy wit's great overplus; But teach us yet Wisely to husband it, Lest we that talent spend: And having once brought to an end That precious stock; the store Of such a wit the world should have no more. Ben Jonson excited a following of young writers often called the Tribe of Ben. Like a childhood clubhouse where secrets and dreams rule, Robert Herrick belonged to this clan and wrote An Ode for Him (Ben Jonson), a poem about a respected mentor. The impression the poem gives of Herrick and his companions is that they are rowdy but also talented, and they appreciate Jonson s greatness. His greatness and well-deserved praise are missed and show up in the first six lines when the ode asks, When will the tribe of Ben 3
meet again? In lines 11-16 the speaker asks of Ben that he either return or send them his surplus talent. As a response to this request in lines 17-20, the speaker realizes and risks the fact that they might waste the talent that Ben has left them if Ben does not respond. His tribe seems to miss him as a friend as well as a writer. Sir John Suckling The Consttantt Loverr Out upon it I have loved Three whole days together! And am like to love three more, If it prove fair weather. Time shall moult away his wings Ere he shall discover In the whole wide world again Such a constant lover But the spite on t is, no praise Is due at all to me: Love with me hath made no stays, Had it been any but she. Had it been any but she, And that very face, There had been at least ere this A dozen dozen in her place. How difficult we find it to consistently love someone! A forgiving spirit can jumpstart faltering friendships. But the key condition necessary for the speaker to continue to love (in lines three and four) is if the weather (the relationship) stays good. In the second stanza it states that it will be forever before Time 4
finds a lover as faithful as the speaker. But in stanza three, praise is not due to the speaker because he would not have been constant with any other lover. Only his lady will do. In the last stanza, the reason the speaker gives for not leaving his lady for another dozen dozen women is that he has been constant because this lady is special. After all this buildup, we discover that the title constant is ironic because this lover is not at all constant, except for the moment with his current lady. The attitudes toward love and the woman evident in his poems are lighthearted about love in general, but seriously infatuated with the woman. Richard Lovelace To Lucastta,, On Goiing tto tthe Wars Nobody likes playing second fiddle. But in this poem, unlike Suckling, love is not focused on constancy but honor. The new mistress (second stanza) is honor and loyalty to the king. According to the last stanza, the abandoned lady will adore the speaker s inconstancy because she will recognize how admirable is his sense of honor. When the speaker says I could not love thee, Dear, so much / Loved I not honor more, he s basically saying I am capable of such deep love for you only because I am a man honorable enough to put my own desires second to my loyalty to the king. After all, the theme of the poem is that love for country is the highest love. During the poem, we encounter the speaker chasing the enemy and embracing all weapons. 5
To Lucastta,, On Goiing tto tthe Wars I. TELL me not (Sweet) I am unkinde, That from the Nunnerie Of thy chaste breast, and quiet minde, To Warre and Armes I flie. II. True; a new Mistresse now I chase, The first Foe in the Field; And with a stronger Faith imbrace A Sword, a Horse, a Shield. III. Yet this Inconstancy is such, As you too shall adore; I could not love thee (Deare) so much, Lov'd I not Honour more. Sir John Suckling Song In the first stanza, the lover looks ill. What causes this fond lover to look and behave in the way described by the speaker is his unhappiness in being unable to win his lady. Perhaps the young lady was seeking someone who offered a little more than looking well and speaking well. This poem may be the seventeenth century way for women to say Take a hike. 6
Why So Palle and Wan By Sir John Suckling WHY so pale and wan, fond lover? Prithee, why so pale? Will, when looking well can't move her, Looking ill prevail? Prithee, why so pale? Why so dull and mute, young sinner? Prithee, why so mute? Will, when speaking well can't win her, Saying nothing do 't? Prithee, why so mute? Quit, quit for shame! This will not move; This cannot take her. If of herself she will not love, Nothing can make her: The devil take her! John Milton Milton, most famous for Paradise Lost, an epic (a long narrative poem written in an elevated style; tells the story of a major cultural hero and reflects the values of the society in which it was produced) containing the theme of good and evil. Its purpose was to justify the ways of God to people and its subject the fall of humanity from Eden. Milton modeled Paradise Lost after the Greek and Roman epics as it is divided into twelve books and written in blank verse. 7
Devoutly Puritan, Milton was cast into prison when the monarchy was restored because he had served in Cromwell s Puritan government. While serving Cromwell as Latin Secretary of the Commonwealth, Milton became blind, and it wasn t until after this experience that he wrote Paradise Lost. This is yet another example of overcoming obstacles to achieve your goal. The Devil Made Me Do It According to Paradise Lost, Satan fell from grace before Adam and Eve for planning a revolt in Heaven. There was a lot of conflict between God and Satan He trusted to have equaled the Most High Satan encounters Beelzebub and is central to the plot of this epic because together they make plans to regain Heaven. Their continued desire to be stronger than God is reinforced by these lines Him followed his next mate, / Both glorying to have scaped the Stygian flood / As gods, and by their won recovered strength, not by the sufferance of supernatural power. Satan decides that it is [b]etter to reign in Hell that serve in Heaven because he will have free will in Hell but not Heaven. Regardless of what Satan and Beelzebub were doing or even planning on doing, Milton makes known that with loss of Eden, till one greater Man / Restore us, and regain the blissful seat in reference to the coming of Christ. The All-Star Team You have just finished reading about some of the heavy hitters in the galaxy of literary all-stars from England. Part of the reason so much great writing occurred at this time was that they could feed off of each other Jonson being mentored by Shakespeare, Andrew Marvell being guided by Milton, Ben s Tribe enlightened by Ben Jonson and so forth. To read this literature is like allowing your mind to play in the big leagues. Enjoy--and don t forget that many of these writers were copycats (Shakespeare included)--so feel free to imitate these guiding lights ethically but liberally. 8