A Celebration of Charis: I. His Excuse for Loving

BY BEN JONSON

Let it not your wonder move,

Less your laughter, that I love.

Though I now write fifty years,

I have had, and have, my peers;

Poets, though divine, are men,

Some have lov'd as old again.

And it is not always face,

Clothes, or fortune, gives the grace;

Or the feature, or the youth.

But the language and the truth,

With the ardour and the passion,

Gives the lover weight and fashion.

If you then will read the story,

First prepare you to be sorry

That you never knew till now

Either whom to love or how;

But be glad, as soon with me,

When you know that this is she

Of whose beauty it was sung;

She shall make the old man young,

Keep the middle age at stay,

And let nothing high decay,

Till she be the reason why

All the world for love may die.

Great old poem on love and aging. A link to learn more is here. 

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/

To Fool or Knave by Ben Jonson

To Fool or Knave

BY BEN JONSON

Thy praise or dispraise is to me alike:

One doth not stroke me, nor the other strike.

So simple and thought provoking. A link to read more of his poems is here.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/ben-jonson

His Excuse for Loving by Ben Jonson

His Excuse for Loving
by Ben Jonson
Let it not your wonder move, Less your laughter, that I love. Though I now write fifty years, I have had, and have, my peers. Poets, though divine, are men; Some have loved as old again. And it is not always face, Clothes, or fortune gives the grace, Or the feature, or the youth; But the language and the truth, With the ardor and the passion, Gives the lover weight and fashion. If you then would hear the story, First, prepare you to be sorry That you never knew till now Either whom to love or how; But be glad as soon with me When you hear that this is she Of whose beauty it was sung, She shall make the old man young, Keep the middle age at stay, And let nothing hide decay, Till she be the reason why All the world for love may die. This is a favorite poem of mine and he is a favorite poet as well. A good link to learn more is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson