Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson's picture

The poet and dramatist Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was a major literary figure of the Renaissance period and a contemporary of William Shakespeare. Though it’s not clear how well the two writers knew each other, Shakespeare’s theatre company produced several of Jonson’s plays. Jonson’s most famous lyric poem, “Song to Celia,” is better known as the popular English song “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes.”