Analysis of An Invective Written By Mr. George Chapman Against Mr. Ben Jonson



Great, learned, witty Ben, be pleased to light
The world with that three-forked fire; nor fright
All us, thy sublearned, with luciferous boast
That thou art most great, most learn'd, witty most
Of all the kingdom, nay of all the earth;
As being a thing betwixt a human birth
And an infernal; no humanity
Of the divine soul shewing man in thee.

* * * * *

Though thy play genius hang his broken wings
Full of sick feathers, and with forced things,
Imp thy scenes, labour'd and unnatural,
And nothing good comes with thy thrice-vex'd call,
Comest thou not yet, nor yet? O no, nor yet;
Yet are thy learn'd admirers so deep set
In thy preferment above all that cite
The sun in challenge for the heat and light
Of heaven's influences which of you two knew
And have most power in them; Great Ben, 'tis you.
Examine him, some truly-judging spirit,
That pride nor fortune hath to blind his merit,
He match'd with all book-fires, he ever read
His dusk poor candle-rents; his own fat head
With all the learn'd world's, Alexander's flame
That Caesar's conquest cow'd, and stript his fame,
He shames not to give reckoning in with his;
As if the king pardoning his petulancies
Should pay his huge loss too in such a score
As all earth's learned fires he gather'd for.
What think'st thou, just friend? equall'd not this pride
All yet that ever Hell or Heaven defied?
And yet for all this, this club will inflict
His faultful pain, and him enough convict
He only reading show'd; learning, nor wit;
Only Dame Gilian's fire his desk will fit.
But for his shift by fire to save the loss
Of his vast learning, this may prove it gross:
True Muses ever vent breaths mixt with fire
Which, form'd in numbers, they in flames expire
Not only flames kindled with their own bless'd breath
That gave th' unborn life, and eternize death.
Great Ben, I know that this is in thy hand
And how thou fix'd in heaven's fix'd star dost stand
In all men's admirations and command;
For all that can be scribbled 'gainst the sorter
Of thy dead repercussions and reporter.
The kingdom yields not such another man;
Wonder of men he is; the player can
And bookseller prove true, if they could know
Only one drop, that drives in such a flow.
Are they not learned beasts, the better far
Their drossy exhalations a star
Their brainless admirations may render;
For learning in the wise sort is but lender
Of men's prime notion's doctrine; their own way
Of all skills' perceptible forms a key
Forging to wealth, and honour-soothed sense,
Never exploring truth or consequence,
Informing any virtue or good life;
And therefore Player, Bookseller, or Wife
Of either, (needing no such curious key)
All men and things, may know their own rude way.
Imagination and our appetite
Forming our speech no easier than they light
All letterless companions; t' all they know
Here or hereafter that like earth's sons plough
All under-worlds and ever downwards grow,
Nor let your learning think, egregious Ben,
These letterless companions are not men
With all the arts and sciences indued,
If of man's true and worthiest knowledge rude,
Which is to know and be one complete man,
And that not all the swelling ocean
Of arts and sciences, can pour both in:
If that brave skill then when thou didst begin
To study letters, thy great wit had plied,
Freely and only thy disease of pride
In vulgar praise had never bound thy [hide].


Scheme AABBCCDD EEXXFFAAGGHHIIJJXEKKLLMMNNXXOXPPQQQOORRSSTTOOUDXXVVDUAASXSWWAXRXXXLLA
Poetic Form
Metre 111011111 0111111011 1111111 1111111101 1101011101 11001010101 0101010100 100111101 1 1111011101 111100111 111100100 0101111111 1111111111 1111010111 01101111 0101010101 11010011111 01110011111 01011101010 11110111110 11111101101 1111011111 110110101 1101010111 11111100011 110110011 1111110101 1111101101 1111111111 11110111001 0111111101 111010110 1101011011 1011101111 11111101101 1111011111 11010111110 1101010101 11011011111 1111111011 1111111011 01110101111 011010001 11111101010 1110100010 0101110101 1011110101 010111111 1011110101 111110101 11101 110010110 11000111110 111110111 1110100101 10110111 1001011100 0101010111 01101011 11010111001 1101111111 001001010 101011100111 110101111 1101011111 1101010101 1111010101 11010111 110101001 11110100101 1111011011 011101010 1101001110 1111111101 1101011111 1001010111 0101110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 3,292
Words 602
Sentences 13
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 1, 69
Lines Amount 78
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 878
Words per stanza (avg) 200
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:08 min read
116

George Chapman

George Chapman was an English trance spiritual healer and medium. more…

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