Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount Analysis

IambicJonson's short poem is written mostly in iambic pentameter, the most common meter in English poetry. Each line of iambic pentameter contains five (pent-) groups, which we call feet. Each grou...

Echo the NymphLucky for us, we know exactly who the speaker of this poem is, because it comes to us in the form of a song from Jonson's play, Cynthia's Revels. And, lucky for us, we know a lot abou...

We know exactly where we are. Wait. We do? Yep, we promise. Jonson isn't one to leave us hanging. In the play Cynthia's Revels, Cynthia (a.k.a. the Greek goddess Artemis) calls all her cronies toge...

We can't help thinking that if Echo had lived in our day and age, she might have been a big fan of our dearly departed Whitney Houston. She's bidding farewell to her lover man, and channeling her g...

The title of Jonson's poem – "Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount" – isn't really the title. Well, it is and it isn't. After all, the poem is part of a play Jonson wrote called Cynthia's Revels, so there's...

Ancient MythologyBen Jonson was never one to skip his homework. In fact, he was totally that kid in school who always did the extra credit, just to stay sharp. Some of that extra credit work must h...

(4) Base Camp Ben Jonson was a one clever dude, which means that he has a few tricks up his sleeve in "Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount." For one thing, this poem is often taken out of its context in the pl...

When he was 45 years old, Jonson walked all the way from London to Scotland, the land of his ancestors. Here's hoping he packed some moleskin.(Source.)Jonson and his wife got into some hot water fo...

PGWhile the story of Echo and Narcissus that is the backdrop of Jonson's poem is sexually suggestive, "Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount" isn't very sexual at all. Nope, this one's all about grief, folks. De...

Literary and Philosophical References:Echo (throughout) and Narcissus (11). The stories of Echo and Narcissus are told in many writers, but the most likely and best-known version occurs in Ovid's M...