— Jonson. Come closer. Did you know my family can trace... its peerage back further than any other family in the kingdom? We fought at Crecy, at Bosworth Field, at Agincourt. When I inherited my earldom... I was one of the richest men ever to breathe English air. And at last breath, I shall be one of the poorest. Never a voice in government. Never a sword raised in glorious battle. Words. Merely words shall be my sole legacy. You alone watch my plays and know them as mine. When I hear the applause... the cheering of the audience, the hands clapping... I know they are celebrating another man. But in that... cacophony of sounds, I strained to hear two hands only. Yours. But hear them, I never did. You have never told me... Never... told me what you thought of my work. — I find... your words... the most... wondrous... heard on our stage. On any stage. Ever. You... are the soul of the age. Anonymous Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Ben Jonson words oeuvre theater