Ben Jonson play from 1603 may contain ‘lost’ Shakespeare sonnet, say experts

Exclusive: ‘To the deserving Author’, found in the playbook of Jonson’s Sejanus: His Fall, is signed by ‘Cygnus’

An almost unknown sonnet in the playbook or script of a 1603 play by Ben Jonson could be a “lost” work by William Shakespeare, according to two leading scholars.

Beyond “compelling” stylistic evidence, the sonnet – titled “To the deserving Author” – is signed by the mysterious pseudonym Cygnus, the mythical figure who was turned into a swan – evoking Jonson’s very own tribute to Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon as the “Sweet Swan of Avon”.