Benjamin Jonson ( June 11, 1572 - August 6, 1637) was a, English playwright, poet, and literary critic, of the 17th century, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He was a classically educated, well-read, and cultured man of the English Renaissance with an appetite for controversy (personal and political, artistic and intellectual) whose cultural influence was of unparalleled breadth upon the playwrights and the poets of the Jacobean era (1603-1625) and of the Caroline era (1625-1642). He is best known for his satirical plays and for his lyric poetry. In English literature, he is considered the second most important playwright after William Shakespeare. In 1616 he received a yearly pension, leading some to identify him as England's first Poet Laureate. Despite the strokes that he suffered in the 1620s, he continued to write. He died in 1637 at the age of 65. He is buried in the north aisle of the nave in Westminster Abbey.