Memorials
For a poem about a dead guy, Jonson doesn't spend a ton of time talking about, well, death. What he does instead, however, is talk about stuff that's related to death like tombs, monuments, and oth...
Classical Allusions
Jonson was an avowed classicist, so it's no surprise that this poem, much like his others, contains lots of references to our pals up on Mount Olympus. But casting Shakespeare in this classical lig...
Elevation
There are several instances in "To William Shakespeare" where Jonson describes the deceased poet as somehow being raised, above, or higher than other people and things. This is fairly common in ele...