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The Forest is a short collection of Ben Jonson's poetry. This collection of fifteen poems first appeared in the 1616 first folio of his collected works. (Summary by Sheldon Greaves)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 12 recordings of To Celia by Ben Jonson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for March 6th, 2011.<br><br>Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems. A man of vast reading and a seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy, Jonson had an unparalleled breadth of influence on Jacobean and Caroline playwrights and poets. <br><br>To Celia is a poem first published after March 1616 by Ben Jonson. It was set to music after 1770, in the form of the song Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes, the poem's first line.(summary by Wikipedia)

3Alchemist

By Ben Jonson

An outbreak of plague in London forces a gentleman, Lovewit, to flee temporarily to the country, leaving his house under the sole charge of his butler, Jeremy. Jeremy uses the opportunity given to him to use the house as the headquarters for fraudulent acts. He transforms himself into 'Captain Face', and enlists the aid of Subtle, a fellow conman and Dol Common, a prostitute. In The Alchemist, Jonson unashamedly satirizes the follies, vanities and vices of mankind, most notably greed-induced credulity. People of all social classes are subject to Jonson's ruthless, satirical wit. He mocks human weakness and gullibility to advertising and to "miracle cures" with the character of Sir Epicure Mammon, who dreams of drinking the elixir of youth and enjoying fantastic sexual conquests. The Alchemist focuses on what happens when one human being seeks advantage over another. In a big city like London, this process of advantage-seeking is rife. The trio of con-artists - Subtle, Face and Dol - are self-deluding small-timers, ultimately undone by the same human weaknesses they exploit in their victims. (Summary by Wikipedia)<br><br> <strong>Cast</strong>:<br>Subtle, First Neighbor: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br>Face: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br>Dol Common: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3536">Arielle Lipshaw</a><br>Dapper, Second Officer: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7122">Nathanial W.C. Higgins</a><br>Drugger, Third Neighbor: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7399">Thomas Leigh Moore</a><br>Lovewit: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7448">Kevin Johnson</a><br>Sir Epicure Mammon: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/4705">Algy Pug</a><br>Pertinax Surly, Fifth Neighbor, First Officer: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7170">Alan Mapstone</a><br>Tribulation Wholesome: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3157">TriciaG</a><br>Ananias: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3595">Martin Geeson</a><br>Kastril: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2624">David Nicol</a><br>Dame Pliant: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/4744">Amy Gramour</a><br>Fourth Neighbor: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7315">Charlotte Duckett</a><br>Narrator: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/6548">Kristingj</a>

LibriVox volunteers bring you 20 recordings of Simplex Munditiis by Ben Jonson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 26, 2012.<br><br>Ben Jonson was an English poet and playwright. He had a huge influence on both the theatre of his day and that which came after.<br>Much of his poetry was inspired by the classical world of Ancient Greece and Rome. He also wrote a lot of satirical poetry on everyday topics, of which this poem is one such example. (Summary by Lucy Perry)

5Volpone, or, The Fox

By Ben Jonson

Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-performed play, and it is among the finest Jacobean Era comedies. Volpone is a Venetian gentleman who pretends to be on his deathbed, after a long illness, in order to dupe Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino, three men who aspire to inherit his fortune. In their turns, each man arrives to Volpone’s house bearing a luxurious gift, intent upon having his name inscribed to the will of Volpone, as his heir. Mosca, Volpone’s parasite servant, encourages each man, Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino, to believe that he has been named heir to Volpone’s fortune; in the course of which, Mosca persuades Corbaccio to disinherit his own son in favour of Volpone. - Summary by Wikipedia <BR><BR>Cast list:<BR> Volpone, a magnifico: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/474">Zachary Brewster-Geisz</a><br> Mosca, his parasite: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br> Voltore, an advocate: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8799">Peter Tucker</a><br> Corbaccio, an old gentleman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Corvino, a merchant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6281">Beth Thomas</a><br> Bonario, son to Corbaccio: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Sir Politick Would-Be, a knight: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Peregrine, a gentleman traveler: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9179">inflected</a><br> Nano, a dwarf: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1492">mb</a><br> Castrone, an eunuch / Fourth Avocatore: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7848">bala</a><br> Androgyno, an hermaphrodite / Notario, the register: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7679">Libby Gohn</a><br> Lady Would-Be, Sir Politick's wife: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8009">Frances Brown</a><br> Celia, Corvino's wife: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8923">Sarah Terry</a><br> First Waiting-Woman / Servant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a><br> First Avocatore / First Merchant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9001">Mary Kay</a><br> Second Avocatore / Second Merchant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8842">Mary J</a><br> Third Avocatore / Third Merchant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br> Narrator: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br> <br> Edited By: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754"> ToddHW</a><br> and : <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br> Coordinated By: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a>

An inferior devil, Pug, asks Satan to send him to Earth to tempt men to Evil. But when Pug arrives in 1616 London and sets himself at the Squire Fabian Fitzdottrel, he finds Fabian currently beset by con men, cheats, connivers, thieves, villains, and seductresses - a delightful mix of cunning criminality in a world that already has far more vice in it than anything Pug is prepared to offer. - Summary by ToddHW <BR><BR>Cast list:<BR> Satan, the great Devil: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Pug, the less Devil: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br> Iniquity, the Vice: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Fabian Fitzdottrel, a Squire of Norfolk: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10789">Tomas Peter</a><br> Meercraft, the Projector: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9905">Hamlet</a><br> Everill, his Champion: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4705">Algy Pug</a><br> Wittipol, a young Gallant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Eustace Manly, his Friend: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7079">Chuck Williamson</a><br> Engine, a Broker: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8164">Rob Board</a><br> Trains, the Projector's Man: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11064">Jason in Panama</a><br> Thomas Gilthead, a Goldsmith: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12214">Caleb Tol</a><br> Plutarchus, his Son: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11417">Eva Davis</a><br> Sir Paul Eitherside, a Lawyer, and Justice: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6281">Beth Thomas</a><br> Ambler, Gentle-Usher to Lady Tailbush: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11585">Kurt</a><br> Sledge, a Smith, the Constable: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9647">Joseph Tabler</a><br> Shackles, Keeper of Newgate: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8786">Bruce Kachuk</a><br> Mrs. Frances Fitzdottrel: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10087">Sandra Schmit</a><br> Lady Eitherside: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10614">Leanne Yau</a><br> Lady Tailbush, the Lady Projectress: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11772">Linda Olsen Fitak</a><br> Pitfall, her Woman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a><br> Serjant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2156">Roger Melin</a><br> Keeper 1: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8882">Victor Villarraza</a><br> Keeper 2: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12249">Adriana Sacciotto</a><br> Keeper 3: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11790">TJ Burns</a><br> Keeper 4: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10957">Owen Cook</a><br> Stage Directions: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10466">sawasawaya</a><br> and: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12062">Elizabeth Martinson</a><br> Edited By: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a>

7Every Man In His Humour

By Ben Jonson

Knowell, an old man - rumor says Shakespeare originally played this part - tries to spy upon the doings of his potentially wayward son. Meanwhile, Kitely, a merchant, worries so much about being cuckolded by his wife that perhaps it has to happen. All this while a swarm of other interesting characters surround them. - Summary by ToddHW <BR><BR>Cast list:<BR> KNOWELL, an old Gentleman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> EDWARD KNOWELL, his Son: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8164">Rob Marland</a><br> BRAINWORM, the Father's Man: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9929">Zames Curran</a><br> GEORGE DOWNRIGHT, a plain Squire: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4705">Algy Pug</a><br> WELLBRED, his Half-Brother: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12732">Jim Gallagher</a><br> KITELY, a merchant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9647">Joseph Tabler</a><br> CAPTAIN BOBADILL, a Paul's Man: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9905">Hamlet</a><br> MASTER STEPHEN, a Country Gull: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> MASTER MATHEW, the Town Gull: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11790">TJ Burns</a><br> THOMAS CASH, KITELY'S Cashier: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11130">bdanzige</a><br> OLIVER COB, a Water-bearer: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10789">Tomas Peter</a><br> JUSTICE CLEMENT, an old merry Magistrate: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> ROGER FORMAL, his Clerk: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11417">Eva Davis</a><br> DAME KITELY, KITELY'S Wife: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6281">Beth Thomas</a><br> MRS. BRIDGET, his Sister: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10614">Leanne Yau</a><br> TIB, Cob's Wife: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br> Servant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12500">Foon</a><br> Stage Directions: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12506">Bhavya</a><br> Edited by: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a>

8Every Man Out of His Humour

By Ben Jonson

Every Man Out of His Humour followed Jonson's play Every Man In His Humour. "This play as a fabric of plot is a very slight affair; but as a satirical picture of the manners of the time, proceeding by means of vivid caricature, couched in witty and brilliant dialogue and sustained by that righteous indignation which must lie at the heart of all true satire — as a realisation, in short, of the classical ideal of comedy — there had been nothing like Jonson's comedy since the days of Aristophanes.... What Jonson really did, was to raise the dramatic lampoon to an art, and make out of a casual burlesque and bit of mimicry a dramatic satire of literary pretensions and permanency." - Summary by ToddHW and Introduction <BR><BR>Cast list:<BR> Asper: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Macilente: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11417">Eva Davis</a><br> Puntarvolo: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13022">Josh Kibbey</a><br> Carlo Buffone: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10789">Tomas Peter</a><br> Fastidious Brisk: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9905">Hamlet</a><br> Deliro: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Fallace: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br> Saviolina: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12500">Foon</a><br> Sordido: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9642">Chris Pyle</a><br> Fungso: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12874">Aaron White</a><br> Sogliardo: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9835">Elijah</a><br> Cavalier Shift: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11084">Devorah Allen</a><br> Notary: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9929">Zames Curran</a><br> Clove: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Orange: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11790">TJ Burns</a><br> Cordatus: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10614">Leanne Yau</a><br> Mitis: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Prologue: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Hind: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12623">Stefan Von Blon</a><br> Cinedo: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8425">Larry Wilson</a><br> Gentlewoman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12500">Foon</a><br> Lady Puntarvolo: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11772">Linda Olsen Fitak</a><br> Fido: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12257">Luke Castle</a><br> Tailor: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6281">Beth Thomas</a><br> First Rustic: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10087">Sandra Schmit</a><br> Second Rustic: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13139">Lex Hankins</a><br> Third Rustic: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13257">Elsie Selwyn</a><br> Fourth Rustic: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10995">April6090</a><br> Fifth Rustic: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8879">Son of the Exiles</a><br> Musician: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12500">Foon</a><br> Haberdasher: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Groom: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13139">Lex Hankins</a><br> George: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8425">Larry Wilson</a><br> Constable: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Drawer: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a><br> Servant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9835">Elijah</a><br> Stage Directions: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13072">Campbell Schelp</a><br> Edited by: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a>

9Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love

By Ben Jonson

"Cynthia's Revels," the second "comical satire," was acted in 1600, and, as a play, is even more lengthy, elaborate, and impossible than "Every Man Out of His Humour." Here personal satire seems to have absorbed everything, and while much of the caricature is admirable, especially in the detail of witty and trenchantly satirical dialogue, the central idea of a fountain of self-love is not very well carried out, and the persons revert at times to abstractions, the action to allegory. [Let's see if you agree!] - Summary by Prof. Felix E. Schelling <BR><BR>Cast list:<BR>Cynthia: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11084">Devorah Allen</a><br> Echo: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br> Mercury: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Arete: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11772">Linda Olsen Fitak</a><br> Hesperus: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Phantaste: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13661">Lynette Caulkins</a><br> Crites: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8425">Larry Wilson</a><br> Argurion: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br> Amorphus: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9835">Elijah Fisher</a><br> Philautia: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/12500">Foon</a><br> Asotus: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9905">Hamlet</a><br> Moria: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10614">Leanne Yau</a><br> Hedon: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10789">Tomas Peter</a><br> Cos: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10801">Jim Locke</a><br> Anaides: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13072">Campbell Schelp</a><br> Gelaia: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10087">Sandra Schmit</a><br> Morphides: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10801">Jim Locke</a><br> Prosaites: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Morus: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Cupid: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11417">Eva Davis</a><br> Child 1: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Child 2: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10789">Tomas Peter</a><br> Child 3: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11790">TJ Burns</a><br> Citizen: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13577">Adrian Stephens</a><br> Citizen's Wife: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a><br> Tailor: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10995">April 6090</a><br> Perfumer: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13563">Steven Fellows</a><br> Feather-Maker: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10087">Sandra Schmit</a><br> Jeweler: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br> Milliner: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13652">Shashank Jakhmola</a><br> Barber: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br> Prologue: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Epilogue: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br> Stage Directions: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13278">KevinS</a><br> Edited By: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br>

10Bartholomew Fair

By Ben Jonson

"[A] picture of the old [Bartholomew] Fair, into which all the curious incidents that might happen among the hearty, pleasure-loving Londoners on Bartholomew Day are crowded.... Aside from Act 1, which is introductory, the scene is laid entirely in the outer portion of the Fair, where were the eating-booths, the puppet-shows, and the 'monsters'. " <BR><BR> "Jonson more than any other Elizabethan dramatist identified himself with London, and by nature was peculiarly fitted to enter into the life of the great Smithfield Fair. Few others could have been so keen and accurate in their observations, and none could more heartily enjoy its rough spontaneous humor. Bartholomew Fair excels in the varied and abounding life of its scenes, and offers an extremely rich field for the study of English social history." - Summary by Carroll Storrs Alden, 1904)