The fate of Ben Jonson (_b._, 1574; _d._, 1637) has been nearly the same. Excepting his comedies of _Every Man in his Humour_, _Volpone_, _The Silent Woman_, and _The Alchemist_, we are content to read the bulk of his dramas, and wonder at his erudition and his wit. His genius is most conspicuous in his masques and Court pageants, which were the delight of James's queen, Anne of Denmark, and the whole Court. In them the spirits of the woods seem to mingle with those of courts and cities; and fancy and a hue of romance give to royal festivities the impressions of Arcadian life. But the living poetry of the _Midsummer Night's Dream_ or of _Comus_ is yet wanting to touch them with perfection. Hence their chief charm died with the age which patronised them, and having once perused them, we are not drawn to them again by a loving memory, as we are to the Shakespearean woodlands and lyrical harmonies. In Jonson's graver dramas there is a cold classical tone which leaves the affections untouched and the feelings unmoved, while we respect the artistic skill and the learned dignity of the composition. Philip Massinger (_b._, 1584; _d._, 1640), who wrote nearly forty dramatic pieces, is a vigorous writer, eloquent and effective. He is trenchant in his satire, and delights in displaying pride and meanness exposed and punished. Still he is greater as a dramatist than a poet. His _New Way to Pay Old Debts_ and _The Fatal Dowry_ are best known to lovers of the drama. The _City Madam_ is a play which is full of strong features of the times. Dekker assisted him in _The Virgin Martyr_, and is supposed to have introduced a higher and richer vein of feeling than belonged to Massinger himself.