Who is the Speaker in the poem, Inviting a Friend to Supper?

The speaker of the poem seeks to entice his addressee to a dinner by listing a series of palatable menu items. He is gracious toward the guest, whom he sees as the deciding factor in determining whether the evening will be worthwhile. He also takes care to assure the guest that they will be in a safe environment where they are free to speak their minds without the worry of being spied on by others. Though typically a fallacy, these assurances allow readers to equate the speaker of the poem with Jonson himself. Jonson was a professional poet and playwright whose livelihood depended on patronage from William Herbert (the addressee in the poem). Moreover, Jonson was politically involved in the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts, and was critical of Elizabeth I's use of spies to uncover threats to the crown. As such, the speaker in "Inviting a Friend to Supper" shares Jonson's personal circumstances and political motivations, and it is not only possible but necessary to equate the two in order to enhance the meaning of the poem.