SOURCE: "Jonson's Poetry, Prose and Criticism," in Ben Jonson, Hutchinson & Co., Ltd., 1970, pp. 151-76.

In the following excerpt, Bamborough examines the stylistic, thematic, and idiosyncratic qualities of Jonson's poetry.

I

Considering that he wrote the best-known lyric in the English language, Jonson has had comparatively little attention as a poet. The reason for this is not hard to see. As with his plays, he had a very clear idea of what he wanted to do in poetry and what his principles were, and he remained largely independent of fashions and schools. In consequence his poetry does not quite fit into the usual categories of English literary history, and while its obvious qualities have always gained it respect, it has never been fully in accord with the taste of any period. Jonson yielded to no one in in the high value he placed on poetry, but he saw it...