Ode for Ben Jonson

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)


1                     Ah Ben!
2                 Say how, or when
3                 Shall we thy guests
4             Meet at those lyric feasts
5                 Made at the Sun,
6             The Dog, the Triple Tun?
7             Where we such clusters had
8         As made us nobly wild, not mad;
9             And yet each verse of thine
10   Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine.

11                   My Ben
12               Or come again,
13               Or send to us
14           Thy wit's great overplus;
15               But teach us yet
16           Wisely to husband it;
17           Lest we that talent spend,
18       And having once brought to an end
19           That precious stock, the store
20   Of such a wit the world should have no more.