Lovers Made Men was one of the shows of this period; Lord Hay used it to welcome and entertain the French Ambassador, the Baron de Tour.
As the subtitle of the work indicates, Jonson set his masque on the shores of the river Lethe in the underworld of ancient Greek mythology.
As the masque begins, Charon the ferryman has just dropped off a group of human figures, "certain imagined ghosts," to be received by Mercury.
By drinking the waters of Lethe, the deluded lovers paradoxically forget their Cupid-imposed delusions and return to mental health.
"The whole masque was sung after the Italian manner stylo recitativo, by Master Nicholas Lanier; who ordered and made both the scene and the music.