On my first Son

• Poet


  Ben jonson
• Context


  Deeply religious man born into a protestant faith and known for his quick temper. He murdered two men in duels. Published after his son died
• Title


  Slight ambiguity to soften the death for the speaker it allows the speaker to converse with his son. Suggests the poem is about more than death, life, grieving, afterlife
• Voice


  First person narrative, it is Ben Jonson speaking about his dead 7 year old son, this intensifies the emotions
• Form


  Elagy/epitaph
• Rhythm


  Iambic pentameter
• Rhyme


  AABBCCDDEEFF. Rhyming couplets could illustrate the parental son bond. The fluidity represents their strong relationship. The regular rhyming couples contrasts the irregular emotions he is feeling suggesting he is trying to control them

  
• Assonance


  used to connect the rhyming couplets
• Enjambment


  emphasises words such as why and lie to allow for a moment of reflection
• Tone


  Sadness but also joy. Sadness at the death but religious tone as there is joy at the thought of the child returning to God
• "On my first son"


  Money imagery. The speaker imagines a financial arrangement in which God lends the speaker for an amount of time. This allows acceptance of the death
• "Child of my right hand"

  Religious allusion. Indicates luck as right is seen as lucky. Johnson's first son was called Benjamin which in hebrew means son of right hand.

  
• "lent"


  Metaphor describes the son's short life on earth
• "on the just day"


  Adjective "just" emphasises the idea that death is fair in the eyes of God
• "pay"


  Verb carries forwards the metaphor pay, by likening the son's death to repaying a loan where God or heaven is the bank lender

  
• "Oh I could lose all father now!"

  Exclamatory statement and punctuation creates an emotional, despondent tone
• "lament"


  The idea that one should not mourn is depicted through the verb "lament," as death allows us to escape the pains of the body "flesh's rage", personnification
• "too much hope"


  SIn and punishment imagery is sustained. the speaker feels responsible for his death as he had "too much hope" for him and that was his "sin"
• "Here Ben Jonson has laid to rest his best piece of poetry"

  Deeply emotive metaphor. His son is his best piece of art

  
• "exacted"


  The language of punishment is present. The metaphor describes how God takes the son back.
• "fate"


  Through the reference to "fate" the speaker voices his beliefs and reminds us we have no control over life and death
• "too much"


  He wishes never to like anything too much as he implies it leads to punishments like the ones he has suffered.