Ben Jonson's Poetry

Ben Jonson's poetry includes songs, epigrams, elegies, and poems of friendship and praise. Drawing on classical models, he gives personal feeling a controlled verbal and rhythmic form. To Celia joins a poised speaking voice to song, while his elegies make grief felt through restraint rather than elaborate display. Other poems consider hospitality, generosity, and the obligations linking writers, patrons, and friends. This combination of formal discipline and social attention distinguishes the poems from the broader comic scenes of his drama.