1. ‘On my first sonne’ By Ben Jonson

2. Attitudes and ideas This poem is written By Ben. Jonson to his son Benjamin Jonson Jr, it is written in a form of an elegy. Ben Jonson wrote this poem because he felt guilty about his son’s death during his absence.

3. Themes Parent and child Death Anger Guilt Sadness From these themes we can see how upset he is by losing his son.

4. Language Archaic; shows that it was written a long time ago and that it is a pre 1914 poem. Monologue; shows he is alone and grieving. Rhyming couplets; helps the poem flow, sounds like a prayer.

5. Structure Use of constant punctuation shows his grief Enjambment Use of question marks highlight his confusion at why he is being punished by god and why his first son has been taken away from him, also some biblical reference to Moses and the last plague.

6. Comparison ‘Before you were mine ‘Song of the old mother’ ‘Homecoming’ These compare because they have the theme of parent and child relationships.

7. Why do you think this poem is successful? We believe this poem to be successful because Jonson has shown us how upset he is in losing his son. We can pick this statement out from where he compares his son to his best piece of poetry, this shows how much he feels for his son and how proud he is to have kept him for as long as he could.

8. This presentation is brought to you by… Kirsty finden Devon Grant-Oliver Zak Wright Aqib Iqbal Philip Alan Updates GCSE Student Text Guide Google www.teachit.co.uk