“On My First Son” is an elegy by the English poet and playwright Ben Jonson. He composed the poem shortly after his son died of the plague in 1603; his son was just seven years old at the time. Unlike many of Jonson’s other poems—which tend to be biting, sarcastic, and satirical—“On My First Son” is a moving testament to Jonson’s anguish and grief in the wake of his son’s death. In his despair, Jonson wrestles with some of the toughest questions a poet—and a person—can face. He asks himself whether he can ever recover from such a sharp blow—and he wonders whether anything can possibly compensate for his loss.
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The Full Text of “On My First Son”
1Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
2 My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy.
3Seven years thou'wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
4 Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
5O, could I lose all father now! For why
6 Will man lament the state he should envy?
7To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage,
8 And, if no other misery, yet age?
9Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say here doth lie
10 Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry.
11For whose sake, henceforth, all his vows be such,
12 As what he loves may never like too much.
The Full Text of “On My First Son”
1Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
2 My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy.
3Seven years thou'wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
4 Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
5O, could I lose all father now! For why
6 Will man lament the state he should envy?
7To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage,
8 And, if no other misery, yet age?
9Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say here doth lie
10 Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry.
11For whose sake, henceforth, all his vows be such,
12 As what he loves may never like too much.
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“On My First Son” Summary
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“On My First Son” Themes
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Death, Grief, and Faith
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Fatherhood As Authorship
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “On My First Son”
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Lines 1-4
Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy.
Seven years thou'wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day. -
Lines 5-8
O, could I lose all father now! For why
Will man lament the state he should envy?
To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage,
And, if no other misery, yet age? -
Lines 9-12
Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, 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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“On My First Son” Symbols
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Right Hand
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The World
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Flesh
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“On My First Son” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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End-Stopped Line
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Enjambment
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Caesura
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Metaphor
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Apostrophe
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Rhetorical Question
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“On My First Son” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Thou
- Thee
- Wert
- Exacted
- Thy
- Just Day
- All Father
- State
- 'Scap'd
- Rage
- Misery
- Age
- Ask'd
- Doth
- Be Such
- What
- Like
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “On My First Son”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“On My First Son” Speaker
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“On My First Son” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “On My First Son”
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More “On My First Son” Resources
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External Resources
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More About Ben Jonson — A detailed biography of Ben Jonson from the Poetry Foundation.
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Ben Jonson at the British Library — A collection of resources on Ben Jonson's life and work from the holdings of the British Library, including facsimiles of early printings and manuscripts.
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"On My First Son" Read Aloud — Thomas Whichello recites aloud Ben Jonson's "On My First Son."
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Carol Rumens on Ben Jonson — At the Guardian newspaper, Carol Rumens discusses Ben Jonson's life and career, including "On My First Son."
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Health in England in the 16th-18th Centuries — Lynda Payne describes in detail the medical challenges that faced England during Ben Jonson's lifetime—and the resulting high rate of child mortality.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ben Jonson
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