Ben Jonson's On My First Sonne

Ben Jonson's On My First Sonne

Ben Jonson writes On My First Sonne from a father’s point of view

grieving over the death of his very young son. The title alone

suggests which time period this poem is from i.e. it is from the 17th

century (1603)- when the poet’s son Benjamin died- through the use of

language of the time. This poem has been written in memory of a seven

year old child whose death has dealt a great blow to a father.

Throughout the poem, the use of religious comparisons and words

creates a vivid picture of the thoughts running in the mind of Ben

Jonson and we know almost exactly what he feels.

The inter-relation of father and son in this piece of poetry leads us

back to the beginning of the poem. The son, sitting on the right hand

of his father, would remind a Christian reader of the Creed, in which

the Son 'sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From

thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.' What others

would interpret from the line-“Farewell, thou child of my right hand,

and joy;” is that a father is bidding farewell to his most loved one

and his heir.

Again in line 2, when the poet says “My sinne was too much hope of

thee, lov’d boy”, the poem suggests that Ben had taken his son much

for granted as if now he possessed him and so loved him too much. It

is ironical as he is comparing the love towards his son as a sin. As

mentioned, he now considered that, love, his “sin” which has a deep

meaning from a religious point of view. A sin, in the eye of GOD is a

bad deed but in this case means a mistake or an error. The language

used, hence in relation with religion, exclaims Ben Jonson’s sorrow

and love for the child; despite the fact that he is in a way happy

...

... middle of paper ...

...es of the poem.

Contrastingly, in Refugee Mother and Child, the mother still showed

her love and affection towards the child in the last few days. She

cannot let go as easily. Most mothers would in this situation have

lost hope and would have “ceased / to care…” but not her. She would

‘fight’ this sorrow till the end.

Both poems hence clearly depict the true feelings about the death of a

child. We get the perspective from two points of view in either case

i.e. from a mother’s and a father’s point of view and the feeling

before and after the death of a child. The language used is very

specific and has been used in the most appropriate contexts. Sorrow

and remorse are the main themes of both poems along with death of a

child, yet there is another shadow of a theme i.e. the ‘sin’ of loving

the child so much which causes almost endless grief in the end.