Epigraph
“I lie and dream of your full Mermaid wine.”—Beaumont.
“What things have we seen
Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been
So nimble, and so full of subtle flame,
As if that every one from whence they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,
And had resolved to live a fool the rest
Of his dull life.”
“Souls of Poets dead and gone,
What Elysium have ye known,
Happy field or mossy cavern,
Master Francis Beaumont to Ben Jonson.
Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?”