Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO BEN JONSON, by THOMAS RANDOLPH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I was not born to helicon, nor dare Last Line: Tis to pen anthems for an angel's quire. Variant Title(s): A Gratulatory To Ben Jonson For His Adopting Of Him To Be His Son Subject(s): Jonson, Ben (1572-1637); Poetry & Poets | ||||||||
I was not born to Helicon, nor dare Presume to think myself a Muse's heir. I have no title to Parnassus Hill Nor any acre of it by the will Of a dead ancestor, nor could I be Ought but a tenant unto poetry. But thy adoption quits me of all fear, And makes me challenge a child's portion there. I am akin to heroes, being thine, And part of my alliance is divine, Orpheus, Muses, Homer too, beside Thy brothers by the Roman mother's side; As Ovid, Virgil, and the Latin lyre That is so like thee, Horace; the whole quire Of poets are, by thy adoption, all My uncles; thou hast given me power to call Phoebus himself my grandsire; by this grant Each sister of the Nine is made by aunt. Go, you that reckon from a large descent Your lineal honours, and are well content To glory in the age of your great name Though on a herald's faith you build the same: I do not envy you, nor think you blest Though you may bear a Gorgon on your crest By direct line from Perseus; I will boast No further than my father; that's the most I can, or should be proud of; and I were Unworthy his adoption, if that here I should be dully modest; boast I must, Being son of his adoption, not his lust. And, to say truth, that which is best in me May call you father; 'twas begot by thee. Have I a spark of that celestial flame Within me? I confess I stole the same, Prometheus-like, from thee; and may I feed His vulture, when I dare deny the deed. Many more moons thou hast, that shine by night, All bankrupts, were't not for a borrow'd light, You can forswwear it; I the debt confess, And think my reputation ne'er the less. For, father, let me be resolv'd by you: Is't a disparagement from rich Peru To ravish gold; or theft, for wealthy ore To ransack Tagus' or Pactolus' shore? Or does he wrong Alcinous that for want Doth take from him a sprig or two, to plant A lesser orchard? Sure, it cannot be: Nor is it theft to steal some flames from thee. Grant this, and I'll cry guilty, as I am, And pay a filial reverence to thy name, For when my muse upon obedient knees Asks not a father's blessing, let her lese The fame of this adoption; 'tis a curse I wish her, 'cause I cannot think a worse. And here, as piety bids me, I entreat Phoebus to lend thee some of his own heat, To cure thy palsy; else I will complain He has no skill in herbs; poets in vain Make him the god of physic, 'twere his praise To make thee as immortal as thy bays -- As his own Daphne, 'twere a shame to see The god not love his priest more than his tree. But if heaven take thee, envying us thy lyre, 'Tis to pen anthems for an angel's quire. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ENVY OF OTHER PEOPLE'S POEMS by ROBERT HASS THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AS A SONG by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: TIME IS FILLED by LYN HEJINIAN OXOTA: A SHORT RUSSIAN NOVEL: CHAPTER 192 by LYN HEJINIAN LET ME TELL YOU WHAT A POEM BRINGS by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA JUNE JOURNALS 6/25/88 by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA FOLLOW ROZEWICZ by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA HAVING INTENDED TO MERELY PICK ON AN OIL COMPANY, THE POEM GOES AWRY by HICOK. BOB FAIRIES' SONG by THOMAS RANDOLPH ODE TO MASTER ANTHONY STAFFORD [TO HASTEN HIM INTO COUNTRY] by THOMAS RANDOLPH |
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