1. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonne by Ben Jonson 1743 1 Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was an actor, playwright and a poet. During his day he was a very highly regarded playwright, even more so than his contemporary, William Shakespeare! He lived through many traumas: not only did his son die at a young age but he was also convicted of murdering a fellow actor, Gabriel Spencer! As well as writing plays he also wrote two collections of poetry.

2. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson Name: About the poet Occupation:Actor, playwright and poet Education: The young Jonson attended Westminster School, a rigorous, classics-minded grammar school. He did not go to university, probably for reasons of money, training instead in his step-father's trade as a bricklayer. However, at some point in the 1590s he chose to try his luck as a soldier in the Low Countries where English troops were involved in the continuing wars between the Dutch and the Spanish. The records of the Tylers and Bricklayers' Companies seem to indicate that Jonson worked in their trade from 1595 to around 1602 the same years which saw Jonson establish himself as both actor and writer. Other: b.1572 d.1637Ben Jonson

3. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson What is an elegy? An elegy is a mournful poem or song, a lament for the dead. What does lament mean? Lament means to express sorrow, remorse or regret. A poem or song in which a death is lamented.

4. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson On My First Sonne 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 scap'd 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 vowes be such, As what he loves may never like too much. On My First Son – Modern Goodbye, you child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was hoping too much for your future, beloved boy. Seven years you were lent to me, and I pay you in my grief, Caused by your fate on that just day. O, could I loosen all fatherliness now. Why Will people feel sad about death when they should envy it? To have escaped the world and unhappiness of the world, And to have escaped the misery of age? Rest in soft peace, and, if asked, say here doth lie Ben. Johnson’s best piece of poetry. For my own sake, from now on, all my vowes be, To never love something too much. 1743 4

5. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 5 On my first Sonne 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 scap’d 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 1616

6. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 6 Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; What kind of a statement is this? Who is he speaking to?

7. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 7 Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy ; How did he feel about his son? Religion was really important in the 17 th Century. Who sat at the right hand of God? Is there a connection? ” Thou” second person singular pronoun. used here rather than “you’ to express closeness of relationship. In Hebrew, Benjamin means "son of the right hand.” Jonson is playing on the name.

8. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 8 Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy. Jonson believes that he has sinned by loving his son too much. He feels responsible for his son’s death. The church had very strict rules in the 17 th Century. Your relationship with your loved ones should have been seen as second to your relationship with God. Maybe Jonson feels that his relationship with God was not as it should have been and that as a result, God has taken his son away?

9. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 9 My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy. Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; Seven yeeres tho’wert lent to me, and I thee pay, Why use this word? How is he paying?

10. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 10 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. ‘just’ means – morally right and fair. Jonson believes his punishment to be fair. That had to be paid back with the boy’s life

11. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 11 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. In the first four lines of the poem, Jonson forms the beginnings of an ‘extended metaphor’. His child’s life has been a seven year loan. The day that his son died is the day that he paid back the loan. Bank of GOD You owe ME one child! Did you know that Jonson’s child was called Benjamin and that ‘child of my right hand’ is the English translation of this Hebrew name?

12. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 12 O, could I loose all father, now. For why Will man lament the state he should envie? Father is him & GOD. What could this statement be suggesting? (Who has his son gone to be with?) I wish I could give up acting like a father The boy’s in heaven - why grieve about this

13. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 13 O, could I loose all father, now. For why Will man lament the state he should envie? Father is him (Jonson) & GOD. What could this statement be suggesting? (Who has his son gone to be with?) Be sad about something Wanting what his son has got. Now spelt ‘lose’

14. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 14 O, could I loose all father, now. For why Will man lament the state he should envie? To have so soone scap’d worlds, and fleshes rage, And, if no other miserie, yet age? Escaped There is a real CONTRAST to his feelings in the first part of the poem. Why do you think he uses the phrases ‘escaped worlds’ and ‘fleshes rage’? The misery is on earth His son has managed to escape the earthly misery of ageing.

15. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 15 O, could I loose all father, now. For why Will man lament the state he should envie? To have so soone scap’d worlds, and fleshes rage, And, if no other miserie, yet age? In the first part of the poem we saw Jonson blame himself for his son’s death. He created the image that his son had only been lent to him. In the next four lines we see a contrast to his earlier feelings. He now displays a little jealousy at the fact that his son has escaped the miseries of earth and found the peaceful and envious place of Heaven. And the misery of age To have escaped the demands of passion Jonson is trying to convince himself that the boy is better off dead

16. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 16 Rest in soft peace, and, ask’d, say here doth lye Ben. Jonson his best piece of poetrie. An Epitaph? Who is he talking about here? Is he talking about this poem or something else? Poetry is a creation.This is a metaphor for something he created. What? This contrasts with”fleshes rage” in the previous couplet

17. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 17 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. promises He got too close to his son and was hurt badly. He promises never to get that close to the ones he loves again!

18. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson 1743 18 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. In the final four lines of the poem, Jonson says farewell to his son – ‘rest in peace’. He says that his son was the best thing he ever had a hand in creating. He has also learnt that getting close to the people you love can cause immense grief; something he vows to avoid in the future.

19. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson http://www.marrasouk.com For whose sake, hence-forth, all his vowes be such, As what he loves may never like too much. He’s telling himself not to like, too much, the things he loves Why? Because it’s painful when you lose the things you love Because loving them too much is a “sinne” and could cause their death “ what he loves” could refer to people or to his poetry

20. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson http://www.marrasouk.com The final couplet picks up on idea earlier in the poem For whose sake, hence-forth, all his vowes be such, As what he loves may never like too much. This links with My sinne was too much hope of thee This suggests that loving too much could have caused the death of the boy

21. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson Iambic Pentameter Iambic pentameter consists of one short syllable followed by one long syllable – these pairs are Iambs. There are five groups of Iambs – hence pentameter. da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum When read aloud such verse naturally follows a beat, similar to that of a human heart beat at rest. In written form it looks like this: So Jonson's work would follow the pattern: Fare-well thou-child of-my right-hand and-joy

22. © 2004 www.teachit.co.uk On My First Sonneby Ben Jonson On my first sonne 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. Bidding goodbye Addressed to his dead son What was the sin?His son’s name was Ben, Hebrew for “right hand” Hoped for so much, but fate made him pay The hand of god Died at 7 years What emotion is portrayed by the “O”? Questions why we should fear death Gone to a better place Escaped the pain of growing old Euphemism, makes death sound comforting A gift from heaven Wants to avoid being hurt again so much