Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy,
Seven yeeres tho'wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
O, could I loose all father now. For why
Will man lament the state he should envie?
To have so soone 'scaped worlds, and fleshes rage,
And, if no other miserie, yet age?
Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say here doth lye
BEN. JONSON his best piece of poetrie.
For whose sake, hence-forth, all his vows be such,
As what he loves may never like too much.
Ben Jonson
4 scaffolded questions to accompany the poem 'On My First Sonne' by Ben Jonson.
1a. What is the poem about?
1b. What is the persona trying to articulate?
2. What is the form of the poem?
3. How does the form of the poem successfully bring out the contents?
4. Where does the twist of the poem occur?
Fiona Wang
This is one of the most moving poems there are but it is also difficult, Fiona, so you would need to provide students with a lot of contextual information. There is also much to explain in terms of Christian theology and thinking about death and the material world. Your third question sounds so cold. I would rather you not use the word "contents". Talk about meaning instead.
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