Ben Jonson

Typically, when discussing poetry, we refer to the person from whose perspective the poem is written as the "speaker." This is done to distinguish them from the author, and thus to differentiate whatever conclusions we might draw about the speaker from biographical information about the author. However, in this case, Jonson specifically names himself in the title, drawing on his relationship with Shakespeare to establish his authority to write the poem. The speaker can therefore be said to be Jonson, and thus writing from the position of his complex position as a rival writer to Shakespeare – as well as his contrasting role as Shakespeare's grieving friend.

William Shakespeare

Most of this poem consists of Jonson's attempts to characterize Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time. Instead of reiterating them here, it is useful to give a brief biography of "the Author." Shakespeare was born in 1564 to...