On My First Son Analysis

Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy.
Seven years thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.

Oh, could I lose all father now! For why
Will man lament the state he should envy?
To have so soon 'scaped world's and flesh's rage,
And if no other misery, yet age!

Rest in soft peace, and asked, say, Here doth lie
Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry.
For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such
As what he loves may never like too much.

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The poem is about a father grieving the loss of his son, who died on his seventh birthday. The boy was named after his father, and was the only true happiness in the man's life. The father acknowledges that his son was "lent" to him for seven years by god and had to give him back, yet feels responsible for the sin of hoping too much for the boy and his future. He wishes to God that his fatherly responsibilities and feelings of grief and pain could be taken from him. He also wonders to himself why he is so upset when he should be envious of his son, who was taken from the Earth before he had to experience the evils of the world and mankind. He goes on to tell his departed son that if anyone should ever ask, tell them that he was and is his father's best piece of poetry. He ends the poem by saying that never again will he allow himself to love or become attached to something so strongly again.

| Posted on 2009-10-14 | by a guest

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Hi Mate im from new zealand. is it ok if i ask you some questions?

| Posted on 2009-05-26 | by a guest

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Ben Johnson's beautiful poem "On my first Sonne" illustrates to the reader the complexity of feelings a father can feel when they have to grieve over the loss of their son, or in Johnson's case the "seven years were thou lent to me".
The significance of Johnson's son dying on his birthday ties in with the idea that his son's life was meerely a possession of God, that brought him happiness for 7 years. In the times of 1616 when the poem was written, people had very strong christian beliefs. There are pivotal points in the poem where we see Johnson question the existance of God and whether his actions are always necessary. "Oh, I could lose all my father now"
If he's so omnipotent then why would he use his power to cause grief and sadness to those that respect his existance? The poem gives off the impression that Johnson loved his son "too much", perhaps he put the love of his son before the love of God and now he's repaying his sins.
Realistically speaking, this probably wasn't the case, but as we're being analytical about the poem we must suspend our modern day views on death.
"Will man lament the state he should envie", I think this line clarifies the deeper feelings Johnson whitholds towards the death of his son. He ponders...why he should grieve over his son being accepted into heaven? In comparison to his previous everday life it is distinguished by the church as euphoric.
This is my corrected version of my previous post. Which I made silly errors on whilst writing!

| Posted on 2009-05-18 | by a guest

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Ben Johnson's beautiful poem "On my first Sonne" illustrates to the reader the complexity of feelings a father can feel when they have to grieve over the loss of their son, or in Johnson's case the "seven years were thou lent to me".
The significance of Johnson's son dying on his birthday ties in ideahis sons life was meerely a possession of God, that brought him happiness for 7 years. In the times of 1616 when the poem was written, people had very strong christian beliefs. There are pivotal poignant in the poem where we see Johnson question the existance of God and whether his actions are always necessary. "Oh, I could lose all my father now"
If he's so omnipotent then why would he use his power to cause grief and sadness to those that respect his existance? The poem gives off the impression that Johnson loved his son "too much", perhaps he put the love of his son before the love of God and now he's repaying his sins.
Realistically speaking, this probably wasn't the case, but as we're being analytical about the poem we must suspend our modern day views on death.
"Will man lament the state he should envie", I think this line has a claries the deeper feelings Johnson whitholds towards the death of his son. He ponders why he should grieve over his son being accepted into heaven, when in comparison to his previous everday life it is distinguished by the church as euphoric.

| Posted on 2009-05-18 | by a guest

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i believe the, poet uses language cleverly throughout, the use of poor rhymes could be forseen as a metaphor ffor the pain one feels and to portray how an intelligent mind can be robbed of intelligence to come up with an adequate rhyme.

| Posted on 2009-05-18 | by a guest

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clean crap.. A2 literature exam poem...if he was still alive id kill him myself:D

| Posted on 2009-05-15 | by a guest

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This is a fine elegaic poem consisting of wrenched rhymes (e.g lie/poetry).
uni student

| Posted on 2009-05-12 | by a guest

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This is a fine elegaic poem consisting of wrenched rhymes (e.g lie/poetry).
uni student

| Posted on 2009-05-12 | by a guest

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when he says "seven years thou were lent to me," what he means is that a persons life is only being lent to them, it isnt really theirs, it is Gods. And after the seven years that his son lived he was just giving back what he felt was "borrowed."

| Posted on 2009-03-23 | by a guest

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Poor Ben Jonson is bidding his farewell to his first son who shortly passed away after birth.

| Posted on 2009-03-01 | by a guest

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also in the line that says ''will man lament the state he should envy'' shows that Jonson is askin himself if he should enyv death because when you are dead you reach God.

| Posted on 2009-01-17 | by a guest

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haha no no, this is a very religious time with very religious people. "Of my right hand" is a literal translation of Benjamin, his son's name. Jonson is claiming his only mistake was to put too much hope in the boy, because the boy dies on his seventh birthday. He asks if he can give up all his fatherly pains and feelings, then wonders why he should hate a state he envies in other people. He goes on lamenting his son's death and calling him his "best piece of poetry." From now on he vows to never become too attached to what he loves. (more or less a line by line summary)

| Posted on 2008-10-29 | by a guest

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there are many references to religious symbols in this poem. an example of this is "child of my right hand" this represents Jesus as he is at the right hand of the father, God. Another reference to religion is "O, i could loose all my father now". This could be taken to mean that the writer is loosing faith in God as he is feeling so much pain and grief. How could a God allow his followers to feel this pain?! another interpretation of this line is that Ben Jhonson wants to let go of all fatherly feelings. he believes that if he disconnects himself from reality and the fact that his son is dead, he would be free to live his life.
the word "father" reminds the reader how closely the writer was connected with the person who has died.

| Posted on 2008-02-07 | by a guest