Inviting a Friend to Supper
TO-NIGHT, grave sir, both my poor house and IDo equally desire your company;Not that we think us worthy such a guest,But that your worth will dignify our feast,With those that come; whose grace may make that seemSomething, which else could hope for no esteem.It is the fair acceptance, sir, createsThe entertainment perfect, not the cates.Yet shall you have, to rectify your palate,An olive, capers, or some bitter saladUshering the mutton; with a short-legged hen,If we can get her, full of eggs, and then,Lemons and wine for sauce: to these, a coneyIs not to be despaired of for our money;And though fowl now be scarce, yet there are clerks,The sky not falling, think we may have larks.I’ll tell you of more, and lie, so you will come:Of partridge, pheasant, woodcock, of which someMay yet be there; and godwit if we can;Knat, rail, and ruff, too. Howsoe’er, my manShall read a piece of Virgil, Tacitus,Livy, or of some better book to us,Of which we’ll speak our minds, amidst our meat;And I’ll profess no verses to repeat:To this if aught appear, which I not know of,That will the pastry, not my paper, show of.Digestive cheese, and fruit there sure will be;But that which most doth take my muse and me,Is a pure cup of rich canary wine,Which is the Mermaid’s now, but shall be mine:Of which had Horace, or Anacreon tasted,Their lives, as do their lines, till now had lasted.Tobacco, nectar, or the Thespian spring,Are all but Luther’s beer, to this I sing.Of this we will sup free, but moderately,And we will have no Pooly’ or Parrot by;Nor shall our cups make any guilty men;But at our parting we will be as whenWe innocently met. No simple wordThat shall be uttered at our mirthful board,Shall make us sad next morning; or affrightThe liberty that we’ll enjoy to-night.
Words in this poem
- dignify v. t.
- To invest with dignity or honor; to make illustrious; to give distinction to; to exalt in rank; to honor. [OF. dignifier, fr. LL. d; L. dignus worthy + ficare (in comp.), facere to make. See Deign, and Fact.]
- cates n.
- Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. [Cf. Acates, and see Cater, n.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
- coney n.
- A rabbit. See Cony.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- woodcock n.
- Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds. [AS. wuducoc.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- pastry n.
- The place where pastry is made.
- thespian a.
- Of or pertaining to Thespis; hence, relating to the drama; dramatic; as, the Thespian art.
- innocently adv.
- In an innocent manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Inviting a Friend to Supper is in the public domain. This text is taken from Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter and Some Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5134; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ben Jonson, Inviting a Friend to Supper, in Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter and Some Poems (1616), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5134, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jonson-poems/inviting-a-friend-to-supper.html, id L23802.
Form and metre
Inviting a Friend to Supper is 42 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ----AABB--CC----DDEE--FF--GGHH--II--JJ--KK i · company · guest · feast · seemA · esteemA · createsB · catesB · palate · salad · henC · thenC · coney · money · clerks · larks · comeD · someD · canE · manE · tacitus · us · meatF · repeatF · of · of · beG · meG · wineH · mineH · tasted · lasted · springI · singI · moderately · by · menJ · whenJ · word · board · affrightK · nightK
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| TO-NIGHT, grave sir, both my poor house and I | 10 | ·········· |
| Do equally desire your company; | 11 | ·/˘˘˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| Not that we think us worthy such a guest, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But that your worth will dignify our feast, | 10 | ·····/˘·/· |
| With those that come; whose grace may make that seem | 10 | ·········· |
| Something, which else could hope for no esteem. | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| It is the fair acceptance, sir, creates | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| The entertainment perfect, not the cates. | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Yet shall you have, to rectify your palate, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| An olive, capers, or some bitter salad | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ushering the mutton; with a short-legged hen, | 11 | /˘·/˘···/˘· |
| If we can get her, full of eggs, and then, | 10 | ·········· |
| Lemons and wine for sauce: to these, a coney | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Is not to be despaired of for our money; | 11 | ····˘/··//˘ |
| And though fowl now be scarce, yet there are clerks, | 10 | ·········· |
| The sky not falling, think we may have larks. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I’ll tell you of more, and lie, so you will come: | 11 | ··········· |
| Of partridge, pheasant, woodcock, of which some | 10 | ·/˘/˘/···· |
| May yet be there; and godwit if we can; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Knat, rail, and ruff, too. Howsoe’er, my man | 9 | ········· |
| Shall read a piece of Virgil, Tacitus, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Livy, or of some better book to us, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of which we’ll speak our minds, amidst our meat; | 10 | ····/·˘//· |
| And I’ll profess no verses to repeat: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| To this if aught appear, which I not know of, | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| That will the pastry, not my paper, show of. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Digestive cheese, and fruit there sure will be; | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| But that which most doth take my muse and me, | 10 | ·········· |
| Is a pure cup of rich canary wine, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Which is the Mermaid’s now, but shall be mine: | 10 | ···/······ |
| Of which had Horace, or Anacreon tasted, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Their lives, as do their lines, till now had lasted. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Tobacco, nectar, or the Thespian spring, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Are all but Luther’s beer, to this I sing. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of this we will sup free, but moderately, | 11 | ·······/˘˘˘ |
| And we will have no Pooly’ or Parrot by; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Nor shall our cups make any guilty men; | 10 | ··/··/˘/˘· |
| But at our parting we will be as when | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| We innocently met. No simple word | 10 | ·/˘˘˘··/˘· |
| That shall be uttered at our mirthful board, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| Shall make us sad next morning; or affright | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The liberty that we’ll enjoy to-night. | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/·· |
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