A Parental Ode to my son (Thomas Hood) and Upon my Son Samuel (Anne Bradsheet) comparison

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A Parental Ode to my son (Thomas Hood) and Upon my Son Samuel (Anne Bradsheet) are both poems about parental relationships.

Compare and contrast how each poet presents the relationship and say which poem you prefer and why.

In your answer you should consider:

  • Treatment of theme,
  • Use of language and imagery,
  • Form,
  • Context.

‘A Parental ode to my Son, aged Three Years and Five months,’ by Thomas Hood, was written about Hood’s own son. The poet contrasts the idealised view of childhood with the reality of his son, John’s, misbehaviour. This makes the poem quite humorous and light hearted.

‘Upon My Son Samuel on his going for England, November 8, 1657, ‘ by Anne Bradsheet, is also about her son. However, this poem is more serious as, the poet was a Puritan woman. She was controversial at the time the poem was published as it was a rarity that woman’s literature was published. She left England for the New World in 1630 and lived in a Puritan society. Puritans were strong in belief that God controls everything. Bradsheet named her son Samuel after the story of Hannah and Samuel in the bible. Hannah struggled to conceive, like Bradsheet, but God gave her a son.

Perhaps, the reasons for Bradsheet’s worries as her Son left for England were influenced by the fact that she had made the opposite journey in 1930. She wrote, on her arrival, of the ‘half-dying, famine ridden frontier village of Salem after a journey of three months close quarters, raw nerves, sickness, hysteria and salt meat.’

Both poems address the poet’s sons in the titles and they show you how important a child is to a parent as they have written poems about their children. This is especially unusual for ‘A Parental Ode…’ as the child is very young, only three years and five months, and his father is already writing a poem to praise him.

Both poems have one narrator or voice and this gives the idea that these are personal poems about the personal lives of the poets.

‘A Parental Ode…’ is in a form of poetry called an ode. Odes are used to praise something and in this case, the poet is praising his son, John. This Ode, however, is unusual due to the use of brackets. The brackets, which contain information on the mischievous behaviour of the boy, are used for comic deflation to show that the idealised image of childhood is not always true.  There is also an overuse of exclamation marks to indicate the heightened lines. The alternate, full rhyme scheme of the lines makes the poem flow. However, the rhyme scheme of the lines in brackets are more broken, giving the sense of the poet’s frustration and broken concentration because of the boy being in the room with him.

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Upon my Son Samuel…’ differs from ‘A Parental Ode…’ as it is a prayer like structure which consists of 10 octosyllabic rhyming couplets. These give the effect of the poet pleading to God as they rush the reader along. The poem is like a prayer as it praises, ‘Thou mighty God of sea and land,’ gives thanks, ‘Then shall I celebrate thy praise,’ and pleads with God, ‘Preserve, O Lord, from storms and wrack.’

‘A Parental Ode…’ is a praiseful poem but the bracketed phrases add humor. The care and tenderness of the father’s love are highlighted by lines ...

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