Always With the Complaining! Meet Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick, poetry's most artful kvetches.

(Robert Pinsky) ... For anyone who has ever complained about the culture of his or her own age, Jonson's complaint may offer comfort in one way (you are not alone in your rage) and criticism in another (you should realize that times have always been bad—and get on with your best work). With his moral clarity and eloquence, Jonson rises above kvetching, turning complaint into insight and mere peevishness into something noble. Continued

Photo: Federal Theatre Project/WPA (Library of Congress).