The poetic achievement of Ben Jonson’s “On My First Son” can be realised by a consideration of elegy as a poetic form and its emotional appeal, as well as Jonson’s conciseness and vividness of speech. Jonson successfully uses a range of tropological and figurative devices to evoke a sense of empathy and pity, in mourning the loss of his son. In addition, Jonson effectively conveys a Father’s sense of lament through the themes of sin and judgement. Thus it is Jonson’s use of the traditional structure of the elegy, which achieves an autobiographical tone with a range of euphonic sounds and economy of expression. By analysing Jonson’s use of the elegy, this poetic mode of presentation reveals how compression and conciseness fulfil the achievement of “On My First Son”. However, in first considering the definition of the elegy as “a formal and sustained lament in verse for the death of a particular person, usually ending in consolation” this will demonstrate how Jonson conforms to the traditional structure of the elegy. For example, Jonson’s elegy is traditional as he depicts a father mourning for his son. The apostrophe of “Farewell, thou child” immediately conveys the death of a son, whom Jonson later warmly refers to as his “loved boy”. The title in itself “On My First Son” similarly conveys the speaker’s personal relationship to the son he is mourning. Thus, it is this initial structure of the poem that establishes the conventions of the elegy. Furthermore, in considering meter and presentation, it can be realised that Jonson is conforming to the elegiac form, which is a significant achievement of this poem. For the majority of “On My First Son” Jonson is writing in the iambic pentameter, which is common to the elegy. As realised ... ... middle of paper ... ...curately portray a bittersweet account of his grief and inability to forget the death of his son. In conclusion, the poetic achievement of “On My First Son” has been realised by accounting for the tropological and figurative elements of the poem, along with the emotional sentiments and conciseness of speech. Jonson’s works accentuates the grief and guilt felt by a father, in losing his only son. By writing in a concise meter that exemplifies the elegiac form, Jonson ends his poem on a consoling note, stating that he will not love anything more than his son. However, Jonson’s final rhyming couplet can also be interpreted, with the meaning that he will never love anything again, as it will only hurt him in the end. Ultimately, it is this powerful and vivid portrayal of the unconceivable loss of a child, which accounts for the poetic achievement of “On My First Son”.
“Pass On” written by Michael Lee is a free verse poem informing readers on grief, which is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome not only when losing a loved one, but also in life itself. “Pass On” successfully developed this topic through the setting of an unknown character who explains his or her experience of grief. Despite Lee never introducing this character, readers are given enough information to know how they are overcoming this difficult obstacle. In fact, this unknown character is most likely the writer himself, indirectly explaining his moments of grief. One important piece of information Lee provides is the fact that he has experienced loss twice, one with his grandfather and the other a friend who was murdered by the
The tone of Brendan Galvin’s poem “An Evel Knievel Elegy” is quickly established by the writer’s use of the word elegy. Elegy is defined to be a sad lyrical poem or song that expresses sorrow for someone who is dead. In this poem the writer chooses to reflect on some of the public events in the life of motorcycle stuntman, Evel Knievel. This free verse poem has no stanzas or rhyme scheme and there is no set rhythm. The poet’s use of the word “We” in the first line implies the speaker and the poet are one in the same.
The concept of “mortality” (l. 1) is immediately foregrounded in the sonnet, with a significant enjambment on the word itself. So, from the outset, the speaker draws attention to his mortal state, which implies both life, an existence, and an eventual absence of that life. By then concretizing the abstract “mortality,” combining it with the word “[w]eighs” (2), the speaker produces a reification of mortality as an object weighing down on him; thus, a concept implying an absence, mortality, becomes an entity which affects him. The existence of an eventual absence of life, death, produces his turmoil.
Theodore Roethke analyzes the complex attitude in an "Elegy for Jane." In the beginning the tone was reminiscent, heartfelt and warm bringing up cherishing moments between the speaker and Jane. However, the tone shifted as the piece developed going from a warm heartfelt poem to a dark sorrowing work. Roethke accomplishes this transition by using dominant literary devices throughout the work such as personification, similes, and imagery. These devices help us understand that the teacher loves and cares for Jane but is fearful of letting her go.
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
Part I is particularly anecdotal, with many of the poems relating to the death of Trethewey’s mother. The first part begins with an epitaph from the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, which introduces the movement of the soul after death, and the journey towards the ‘home’ beyond. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey examines the definition of “home” as a place of lament, in contrast to the comforting meaning in the epitaph beginning Part I, and the significance of the soul’s movement after death. The ‘home’ described in the epitaph is a place of comfort and familiarity, where the speaker returns to their mother. In contrast, Trethewey describes the ‘home’ she returns to after her mother’s death as a hollow place, the journey back to which is incredibly
Just as Katherine Philips, poet Ben Jonson also wrote two elegies, for his son Benjamin and daughter Mary, entitled “On My First Son” and “On My First Daughter”. Jonson’s son died the early age of seven, and he expressed the strong, personal bond between them through the years Benjamin was “lent” to him. Jonson really comes from a place of sorrow and self-condemnation while writing this elegy. His approach to “...
For a topic such as motherhood, one school of critical thought likely to provide interesting observations is that of psychoanalysis. I have chosen to focus on Jacques Lacan for this essay since his theories have a greater emphasis on the use and formation of language in the individual than other key figures in his field, such as Jung or Freud. Lacan believed that when we examine literature, we do not merely analyse the characters of a text, but also the text itself as an effect of the linguistic wordplay of the unconscious. For this reason I feel that Lacan is particularly well suited to the discussion of poetry. In this essay I shall be making reference to Lacan’s analysis of The Three Orders and his account of The Mirror Stage in relation to the ego.
I found that throughout this poem there was much symbolism within it. Identifying that it was written in first person form showed that this poem relates to the author on a personal basis, and that it was probably written to symbolize his life. But when talking about people’s lives, you can conclude that people’s lives are generally and individually very diffe...
Emily Bronte’s Remembrance is about one who is reminiscing a lost love who had died. It is an elegy poem which is “a poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful.” Remembrance is also a lyric poem in which “expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet.” The poem reflects the historical context of the 18th century and expresses the romanticism of the Victorian era. Bronte has influenced her 18th century audience and 21st century audience to connect to the tone and mood of the poem through the literary devices she has used, such as imagery and repetition. Through her use of these literary elements, Bronte has created a sense of heartache and remembrance for those who have experienced similar loss to the loss present in the poem. For me personally, these elements, along with the romanticism she has included, make me appreciate my life in that I have not yet experienced this heartache, and encourages me to realise how fortunate I am to have people in my life in which have a similar love for me as the speaker has for their lover.
In John Donne’s sonnet “Death, Be Not Proud” death is closely examined and Donne writes about his views on death and his belief that people should not live in fear of death, but embrace it. “Death, Be Not Proud” is a Shakespearean sonnet that consists of three quatrains and one concluding couplet, of which I individually analyzed each quatrain and the couplet to elucidate Donne’s arguments with death. Donne converses with death, and argues that death is not the universal destroyer of life. He elaborates on the conflict with death in each quatrain through the use of imagery, figurative language, and structure. These elements not only increase the power of Donne’s message, but also symbolize the meaning of hope of eternal life as the ultimate escape to death.
Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden is a short poem that illustrates the emotions that he is dealing with after the love of his life passes away. The tone of this piece evokes feelings that will differ depending on the reader; therefore, the meaning of this poem is not in any way one-dimensional, resulting in inevitable ambiguity . In order to evoke emotion from his audience, Auden uses a series of different poetic devices to express the sadness and despair of losing a loved one. This poem isn’t necessarily about finding meaning or coming to some overwhelming realization, but rather about feeling emotions and understanding the pain that the speaker is experiencing. Through the use of poetic devices such as an elegy, hyperboles, imagery, metaphors, and alliterations as well as end-rhyme, Auden has created a powerful poem that accurately depicts the emotions a person will often feel when the love of their live has passed away.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.
First, it is far longer than any comparable piece. In Memoriam consists of 131 Sections with Prologue and Epilogue, and hence it reaches nearly 3,000 lines. Furthermore, it took Tennyson seventeen years to write In Memoriam. This seventeen-year work of mourning is extraordinary in the history of literature compared to other monumental elegies such as John Milton’s “Lycidas” (1638) and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais (1821), both of which were written and published immediately after the death of their friends. It is also worth noticing that though In Memoriam took seventeen years to be composed and published, the chronology within the poem advances only three years. Hence, this long period of composition, delay in publication, and the difference of the time spans between the reality and the poem, complicate the consoling role In Memoriam may have
Taking a close look at a text takes much more than looking at words or fining word and phrases to answer questions. Close reading is define as the mindful, disciplined reading of an object with a view to deeper understanding of its meaning (Cummins, 2013). According to Fisher & Frey (2012), the practice of close reading is not a new one, and in fact has existed for many decades as the practice of reading a text for a level of detail not used in everyday reading. Therefore, teachers need to foster this skill on students in early stages of literacy skill to become proficient in comprehension. In order for students to examine complex text, teachers need to model and guide them through various strategies that would support their understanding