Burial
Jonson always seemed to be poor, in spite of gifts from royalty,
and he died in great poverty in a house near the Abbey. One story says that he
begged "eighteen inches of square ground in Westminster Abbey" from King Charles
I. Another story says that one day, being railed by the Dean of Westminster
about being buried in Poets' Corner, the poet is said to have replied "I am too
poor for that and no one will lay out funeral charges upon me. No, sir, six feet
long by two feet wide is too much for me: two feet by two feet will do for all I
want". "You shall have it" said the Dean. So Jonson was buried standing on his
feet in the northern aisle of the Nave and not in Poets' Corner. At this period
the design on the Nave floor included several lines of stones measuring eighteen
inches square (the rest being in a lozenge pattern), to which Jonson was
obviously referring in his conversation with the Dean.
and he died in great poverty in a house near the Abbey. One story says that he
begged "eighteen inches of square ground in Westminster Abbey" from King Charles
I. Another story says that one day, being railed by the Dean of Westminster
about being buried in Poets' Corner, the poet is said to have replied "I am too
poor for that and no one will lay out funeral charges upon me. No, sir, six feet
long by two feet wide is too much for me: two feet by two feet will do for all I
want". "You shall have it" said the Dean. So Jonson was buried standing on his
feet in the northern aisle of the Nave and not in Poets' Corner. At this period
the design on the Nave floor included several lines of stones measuring eighteen
inches square (the rest being in a lozenge pattern), to which Jonson was
obviously referring in his conversation with the Dean.