Ben Jonson Ode to Himself

[romantic novel]

Hi there..

Can anyone help me with Ben Jonson's Poem Ode to himself

I could not understand the images in the poem..I understand that he wrote her after the failure of his play..but what else he wants to convey..

AN ODE TO HIMSELF
by Ben Jonson


Where dost Thou carelesse lie
Buried in ease and sloth ?
Knowledge that sleeps, doth die ;
And this security,
It is the common moth
That eats on wits and arts, and destroys them both :

Are all the Aonian springs
Dried up ? lies Thespia waste ?
Doth Clarius' harp want strings,
That not a nymph now sings ?
Or droop they as disgraced,
To see their seats and bowers by chattering pies defaced ?

If hence thy silence be,
As 'tis too just a cause ;
Let this thought quicken thee :
Minds that are great and free
Should not on Fortune pause,
'Tis crown enough to Virtue still, her own applause.

What though the greedy fry
Be taken with false baits
Of worded balladry,
And think it poesy ?
They die with their conceits,
And only piteous scorn upon their folly waits.

Then take in hand thy lyre,
Strike in thy proper strain,
With Japhet's line aspire
Sol's chariot for new fire,
To give the world again :
Who aided him, will thee, the issue of Jove's brain.

And since our dainty age
Cannot endure reproof,
Make not thyself a page
To that strumpet the stage,
But sing high and aloof,
Safe from the wolf's black jaw, and the dull ***'s hoof.

[OrphanPip]

"An Ode to Himself" is actually a different poem from "Ode to Himself," it is the latter that was written after the failure of one of his plays not this one.

This poem is from Jonson's later period when he felt he was too good to be writing for the stage.

"Where dost Thou carelesse lie
Buried in ease and sloth ?
Knowledge that sleeps, doth die ;
And this security,
It is the common moth
That eats on wits and arts, and destroys them both :"

Here Jonson is addressing himself, he rebukes himself for wasting time. He's basically saying to himself that when you don't produce poetry, you're just letting your inspiration be wasted. There could be a sense of concern about aging and losing one's wits as you age in there as well, since this is one of his later poems.

"Are all the Aonian springs
Dried up ? lies Thespia waste ?
Doth Clarius' harp want strings,
That not a nymph now sings ?
Or droop they as disgraced,
To see their seats and bowers by chattering pies defaced ?"

Jonson is relatively straight forward if you can decode his language. Here he's basically using a bunch of classical allusions to say "What's the deal Ben, has your artistic inspiration dried up, do you have nothing left in you?" He's also taking a characteristic dig at his contemporaries, he's saying or are these symbols of artistic inspiration being ruined by "chattering pies." I have the sense that the "seats and bowers" is an allusion to the much loathed theater at this point in his life.

"If hence thy silence be,
As 'tis too just a cause ;
Let this thought quicken thee :
Minds that are great and free
Should not on Fortune pause,
'Tis crown enough to Virtue still, her own applause."

Here he's basically saying that "great and free minds" should not worry about "fortune," i.e. the praise of others. So, writing good artistic poetry is better than being a popular poet/playwright.

"What though the greedy fry
Be taken with false baits
Of worded balladry,
And think it poesy ?
They die with their conceits,
And only piteous scorn upon their folly waits."

Here he's just complaining about popular poetry, like ballads, and the people that write and enjoy that stuff. Basically saying they're not important and they'll suffer for their own lack of taste.

"Then take in hand thy lyre,
Strike in thy proper strain,
With Japhet's line aspire
Sol's chariot for new fire,
To give the world again :
Who aided him, will thee, the issue of Jove's brain.

And since our dainty age
Cannot endure reproof,
Make not thyself a page
To that strumpet the stage,
But sing high and aloof,
Safe from the wolf's black jaw, and the dull ***'s hoof. "

And here he basically says, "Hey Ben, so do your own thing and forget about those popular forms of poetry and about plays, pursue your art your way."

Ben Jonson basically had a humongous ego.