Lyric Poem · Life

That Women Are But Men's Shadows

by Ben Jonson

Reading room

1Follow a shadow, it still flies you;

2Seem to fly it, it will pursue:

3So court a mistress, she denies you;

4Let her alone, she will court you.

5Say, are not women truly then

6Styled but the shadows of us men?

7At morn and even shades are longest,

8At noon they are or short or none;

9So men at weakest, they are strongest,

10But grant us perfect, they're not known.

11Say, are not women truly then

12Styled but the shadows of us men?

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“That Women Are But Men's Shadows” by Ben Jonson — quilloak.com/poems/that-women-are-but-mens-shadows

Quick facts

Poem: That Women Are But Men's Shadows
Poet: Ben Jonson
Length: 12 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Life

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 12 lines · 2 sestets
Line length: Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).
Refrains: “Say, are not women truly then”“Styled but the shadows of us men?”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.

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Text, source & rights

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Author record: Ben Jonson1572–1637
Source record: PoetryDBThat Women Are But Men's Shadows by ben-jonson, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 d8e502b33b35a010…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Life

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