Ben Jonson, "To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us"

To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us (1623)

   To draw no envy, Shakespeare, on thy name,

      Am I thus ample[copious] to thy book and fame,

   While I confess thy writings to be such

      As neither man nor muse can praise too much.

   'Tis true, and all men's suffrage[admission]. But these ways

      Were not the paths I meant unto thy praise;

   For silliest ignorance on these may light,

      Which, when it sounds at best, but echoes right;

   Or blind affection, which doth ne'er advance

      The truth, but gropes, and urgeth all by chance;

   Or crafty malice might pretend this praise,
      And think to ruin where it seemed to raise.
   These are, as[as though] some infamous bawd or whore
      Should praise a matron . What could hurt her more?

• malice 惡意; bawd 妓女; matron 婦女

   But thou art proof against them, and, indeed,
      Above th' ill fortune of them, or the need.
   I therefore will begin: Soul of the age!
      The applause! Delight! The wonder of our stage!


   My Shakespeare, rise! I will not lodge thee by
      Chaucer, or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lie
   A little further to make thee a room:

• Chaucer, Spencer, and Francis Beaumont were buried in Westminster Abbey; Shakespeare, in Stratford.
• Chaucer: considered greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, Canterbury Tales; Spenser: poet known for The Faerie Queene; Beaumont: dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre

      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.


   That I not mix thee so, my brain excuses,
      I mean with great, but disproportioned[not comparable] Muses;
   For, if I thought my judgment were of years,
      I should commit thee surely with thy peers,
   And tell how far thou didst our Lyly outshine,
      Or sporting Kyd, or Marlowe's mighty line.

• John Lyly (1572-1637), Thomas Kyd (1558-1594), Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) were Elizabethan dramatists contemporary or nearly contemporary with Shakespeare.

   
   And though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek,
      From thence to honor thee I would not seek[lack]
   For names, but call forth thund'ring Aeschylus,
      Euripides, and Sophocles to us,
   Pacuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead,

• Shakepeare's Latin was pretty good, but Jonson is judging by the standard of his own remarkable scholarship.
• Marcus Pacuviud, Lucius Accius (2nd century B.C.E.), and "him of Cordova," Seneca the Younger (1st century C.E.), were Latin tragedians. Seneca's tragedies had a large influence on Elizabethan revenger tragedy.

      To life again, to hear thy buskin[symbol of tragedy] tread
   And shake a stage; or, when thy socks[symbol of comedy] were on,
      Leave thee alone for the comparison
   Of all that insolent Greece or haughty Rome
      Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come.

• buskin: worn by Athenian tragic actors
• sock: low shoe worn by comedians 
• insolent 粗野的,無禮的 

   Triumph, my Britain; thou hast one to show
      To whom all scenes[stages] of Europe homage owe.
   He was not of an age, but for all time!

• homage 尊崇, respect (especially paid by) external action

      And all the Muses still were in their prime,
   When like Apollo[god of poetry] he came forth to warm
      Our ears, or like a Mercury[god of eloquence] to charm.


   Nature herself was proud of his designs,
      And joyed to wear the dressing of his lines,
   Which were so richly spun, and woven so fit,
      As, since, she will vouchsafe[grant] no other wit.

• => Shakespeare 有天份

   The merry Greek, tart Aristophanes,
      Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not please,
   But antiquated and deserted lie,
      As they were not of Nature's family.

• tart 尖酸的; antiquate 使廢棄
• Aristophanes: comic playwright of ancient Athens; Terence: a playwright of the Roman Republic; Plautus: a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period, wrote comedies

   Yet must I not give Nature all; thy art,
      My gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part.
   For though the poet's matter[subject matter] nature be,
      His art doth give the fashion[form,style]; and, that he
   Who casts[undertakes] to write a living line must sweat
      (Such as thine are) and strike the second heat
   Upon the Muses' anvil; turn the same,
      And himself with it, that he thinks to frame,

• anvil 鐵砧; 

   Or for[instead of] the laurel he may gain a scorn;
      For a good poet's made as well as born.
   And such wert thou. Look how the father's face
      Lives in his issue[offspring]; even so the race
   Of Shakespeare's mind and manners brightly shines
      In his well-turned and true-filed lines,
   In each of which he seems to shake a lance,
      As brandished at the eyes of ignorance.

• scorn: extreme and lofty contempt, haughty disregard; lance 槍矛; brandish 揮舞
• "shake a lance"-> pun: "Shake-a-spear"

   Sweet swan of Avon, what a sight it were
      To see thee in our waters yet appear,
   And make those flights upon the banks of Thames
      That so did take Eliza and our James!

• "the Swan of Avon" later becomes the nickname for Shakespeare; the phrase refers to te swans on the River Avon at Stratford, where Shakespeares was born, and also to the ancient Greek belief that the souls of poets pass into swans. (source)
• "Eliza and our James"->Queen Elizabeth and King James

   But stay; I see thee in the hemisphere
      Advanced, and made a constellation there!

• Heroes and demigods were typically exalted after death to a place among the stars.

   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,

• "Rage" and  "influence" describe the supposed effects of the planets on earthly affairs. "Rage" also implies poetic inspiration.

Assignment Question: In what ways does Jonson's high praise reveals his own ideal of poetry and, more importantly, his demand and triumph of his own poetry?

My Answer (ver 1): Ben Jonson inserted his own ideology of poetry and writings into the encomiastic poem written to William Shakespeare. From line 7-10, we know that, for Jonson, a work of value is one praised by people who admired and understand the work, and not one that is praised by people who never even read the work and who delights in agreeing with what other people say while disregarding their own thoughts. From line 22-24, Jonson thinks a writer of great works will never die, because they will live on forever in their works. Line 57-63 is evidence of Jonson thinking that, in poetry, the most important is the learning and the honing of the poet’s skills. Though in the following lines, Jonson writes of the natural talent Shakespeare inherited from his father, yet sources said that John Shakespeare, though a successful business man, was an illiterate. It is not possible for Shakespeare to inherit any poetic talents that can be used in writing. Therefore, I conclude that although Jonson confessed that Shakespeare may have natural talents but it is not a skill of his own, hence it cannot be what an ideal poet should be proud of. To conclude, Jonson thinks an ideal poet, in which he deems himself to be one, is someone who writes with words well thought over and who is praised by readers of poetry and not the mass.

My answer (ver. 2):  Ben Jonson inserted his own ideology of poetry and writings into the encomiastic poem written to William Shakespeare. To start, Jonson praises Shakespeare in the first five lines but gives assurance that he does so without envy and ill-feelings. Excessive use of praises will only make others feel insincere. In the next ten lines we know that, for Jonson, a work of value is one praised by people who admired and understand the work, and not one that is praised by people who never even read the work and who delights in agreeing with what other people say while disregarding their own thoughts. These lines are also a subtle implication that Jonson himself is not like these people. From line 22-24, Jonson thinks a writer of great works will never die, because they will live on forever in their works. Through the fifteenth to the fortieth line, Jonson first compares Shakespeare with famous literary composers of the past and the present. Then he continues with known play-writers—the same profession with Shakespeare. The comparison ascends from a general group to a specific group. Afterwards, Jonson tells of Shakespeare’s talents and skills. He turns the focus to Shakespeare as an individual. At the very end, Jonson raises Shakespeare into the sky. Shakespeare is not a mere human being anymore, but has now become a constellation—a star in the sky that future writers can look up to.
   To conclude, Jonson thinks an ideal poet, in which he deems himself to be one, is someone who writes with words well thought over and who is praised by readers of poetry and not the mass. The poet’s work must be generous with his words but without the unnecessary exaggerations and false feelings.

Source: The Norton Anthology Eighth Edition





   References:

1. The Norton Anthology of English Literature Eight Edition
2. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/benjonson.html
3. http://www.enotes.com/topics/memory-my-beloved-master-william-shakespeare-ben
4. http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/13/bookend/bookend.html
5. http://marysidney.weebly.com/eulogy.html
6. http://www.poemhunter.com/ben-jonson/biography/
7. 
   

(2014/03/06-03/13 英史 assignment)