23 pages • 46 minutes read
To Penshurst
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
The premise of Ben Jonson’s poem “To Penshurst” (1616) is deceptively simple: it appears to be a celebration of the ancestral estate Penshurst Place, which comprises the buildings, gardens, and forests belonging to one of his generation’s noblest figures, Sir Philip Sydney (1554-1586), a poet, courtier, and military hero who died heroically at the age of 28 while serving in the Netherlands during the Eighty Years War. Jonson himself had stayed at Penshurst, about 30 miles east of London, and enjoyed the hospitality of Sir Philip’s younger brother Robert. The poem then is a kind of elaborate thank you to the family as Jonson details the wealth of natural beauty in the home’s 11 acre spread as well as the boundless hospitality of the Sydney family. Indeed, it is considered one of the premier examples of country house poetry, a genre of British poetry that flourished briefly before the Industrial Revolution rendered such praise for the rich at best nostalgic and at worst ironic.
But the poem is more than one of those puff pieces that might appear in some coffee-table book that showcases the beautiful homes of the rich and famous. Jonson develops Penshurst as a socio-cultural Unlock all 23 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Related Titles
By Ben Jonson
