The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson

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An Epistle to a Friend (‘Censure not sharply, then’)

An Epistle to a Friend

‘Censure not sharply then, but   me advise

Before I write more verse, to be more wise.’

So ended your epistle; mine begins:

He that so censureth, or  adviseth, sins;

The empty carper, scorn, not credit, wins. 5

I have,  with strict advantage of free time,

  O’er-read, examined,  tried, and  proved your rhyme,

As clear and distant as yourself from crime;

And though your virtue (as becomes it) still

 Deigns mine the power to find; yet want I will 10

Or malice to make faults, which  now is skill.

 Little know they   that  profess amity,

  And  seek to  scant her comely liberty,

How much  they lame her in her property.

And less they know, that  being free to use 15

That friendship, which no chance, but love, did choose,

Will unto licence that  free leave abuse.

It is an  act of tyranny, not love,

In course of friendship wholly to  reprove,

  And flattery,  with friends’ humours still to move. 20

From each of which I labour to  be free,

Yet if with   either’s vice I tainted be,

Forgive it as my frailty, and not me;

For no  man lives so out of passion’s sway,

But sometimes shall be tempted to obey 25

 Her fury, though no friendship he betray.

Title ] not in mss.
1 me] JnB 90; wee JnB 89
4 adviseth] JnB 90; deuiseth JnB 89
6 with strict] JnB 90; first JnB 89, JnB 91
An Epistle First printed from manuscript in W. D. Briggs (1915b), 231 and plausibly ascribed to ‘B.J.’ in manuscript. It appears to be an early draft of Und. 37. Two of the three known copies (JnB 89, Bodleian MS Eng. Poet. f. 9, and JnB 91, Yale, Osborn Collection, b 148) appear in manuscripts which chiefly contain poems by Donne, making it possible that he is the friend addressed. Jonson wrote an epigram on Donne’s satires (Epigr. 94), and certainly found much in Donne’s work to criticize (see Informations, 31-4, 80-3, 147). This poem’s concern with the relationship between friendship, praise and criticism might suit an exchange between the two men c. 1600–3. The most probable alternative addressee would be Sir John Roe, whose two verse epistles to Jonson (sometimes ascribed in manuscript to Donne) appear in two of the three MSS which contain this poem; see Literary Record, Electronic Edition.
7 O’er-read Read over again.
7 tried] JnB 90; not in JnB 89
7 proved shown the true qualities of.
10 Deigns Graciously grants.
11 now is skill these days is equated with poetic ability.
12–26 Repeated in Und. 37.19–33.
12–17 Those people who claim they are friends but then seek to restrict the freedom to criticize which friendship brings don’t realize that they are destroying a primary quality of friendship. But those know even less who stretch the freedoms appropriate to true friendship (which comes from love rather than fortune) to the point where it becomes an abuse of the freedom to condemn.
12 profess Accented on the first syllable.
12 profess amity] JnB 90; proofes Annuitie JnB 91
13 scant restrict.
13 And] JnB 90; yt JnB 89, JnB 91
13 seek] JnB 90; seekes JnB 91
13 scant] JnB 90; hurt JnB 89, JnB 91 subst.
14 property ‘an essential attribute’ (OED, 5).
15 being] JnB 89; blessinge JnB 90
17 free] JnB 90; fair JnB 89, JnB 91 subst.
18 act] JnB 90; Cutt JnB 89, JnB 91
19 reprove] JnB 90; approve JnB 89, JnB 91
20 And] JnB 90; wth JnB 89, JnB 91
20 ‘As it an act of flattery always to adapt oneself to the character and whims of one’s friend.’
20 with] JnB 90; else JnB 89, JnB 91
21 be] JnB 89, JnB 91 subst.; not in JnB 90
22 either’s the flatterer’s or the harsh critic’s.
22 either’s] JnB 90; eyther JnB 89, JnB 91 subst.
24 man] JnB 90; mans JnB 89
26 fury excess of passion.