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Shine forth, thou star of poets, and with rage,
Or influence, chide, or cheer the drooping stage,
Which, since thy flight from hence, hath mourn'd like night,
And despairs day, but for thy volumes light.

— Ben Jonson To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare (1618)

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More quotes by Ben Jonson

The world knows only two, — that's Rome and I.

Sejanus (1603)

Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup
And I'll not look for wine.

The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616)

There's reason good, that you good laws should make:
Men's manners ne'er were viler, for your sake.

The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616)

Neither do thou lust after that tawney weed tobacco.

True happiness
Consists not in the multitude of friends,
But in the worth and choice.

Cynthia's Revels (1600)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ben Jonson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.