Ben jonson

Biography

• Too poor for university, joined army
• Became an actor and writer
• Friend and rival to Shakespeare and Donne
• Wrote masques (entertainment) for royal court - favorite writer
• King James I made him poet laureate of England

Claim to Fame:
Epigram - short poem aiming for brevity, clarity, and permanence

On my first son

• Son had passed away
• Grieving
• Epigram