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James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902.

August 6

To Ben Jonson

By Robert Herrick (1591–1674)

  • Ben Jonson died August 6, 1637.


  • 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

    Outdid the meat, outdid 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.