...of the theater. Nor are these isolated, perhaps half-accidental instances. The Ben Jonson who wrote Yet must I not give Nature all: Thy Art, My gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part knew very well (unlike Stephen Dedalus) that no one ever hacked blindly at a block of wood and produced...

...spun, and woven so fit, As, since, she will vonchsafe no other wit. The merry Greek, tart Aristophanes, Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not please ; But...not of nature's family. Yet must I not give nature ail ; thy art, M y gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part. Sweet swan of Avon ! what a sight it were...

...better understanding of the craftsmanship of the great dramatic poet whose art Ben Jonson praised: "For though the poet's matter nature be, / His art doth give the fashion." In this essay I discuss some of Shakespeare's dramaturgical decisions and procedures in King Lear....

...was proud of his designes, And joy'd to weare the dressing of his lines! . . . Yet must I not giue Nature all : Thy Art, My gentle Shakespeare, must...though the Poet's matter, Nature be, His Art doth giue the fashion. . . . For a good Poet's made, as well as borne. And such wert thou.8 Notes on Act...

...have wits to read and praise to give. (1. 17-19) 44 He was not of an age, but for all time! (1. 38) 45 I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; (LV, 1 —2) 38 And Jonson POETRY QUOTATIONS Who casts to write a living line, must sweat (Such as thine are) and strike...

...apotheosis. Indeed, Jonson's highest praise of Shakespeare is the sort of praise he sought for himself: For though the poet's matter nature be, His art doth give the fashion . . . For a good poet's made, as well as born; And such wert thou. Look how the father's face Lives...

...since she will vouchsafe no other wit: The merry Greek, tart Aristophanes, Neat Terence, witty Flautus, MIO OF EPHESUS. 1 have some marks of yours upon my...of my mistress' marks upon my shoulders; But not pan: For though the poet's matter nature be, His art doth give the fashion; and that he Who casts to...

...Us" (Ungathered Verse, 26), which stands at the head of the commemorative poems in the same Folio: "Yet must I not give Nature all: Thy Art, / My gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part" (55-56). The word appears once more in the preliminary pages of the Folio in the address "To the Great...

...as it were, to spare Shakespeare the implication that his greatness could proceed from Nature alone: Yet must I not give Nature all: Thy Art, My gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part. For though the Poets matter, Nature be, His Art doth give the fashion. And, that he, Who casts to write a living line,...

...the same poem 'small Latin and less Greek', he adds to his gift of nature the accomplishments of art: Yet must I not give nature all: thy art, My gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part. In Jonson's 1619 conversation with William Drummond of Hawthornden, he put his viewpoint much less...