Compare and contrast how Wordsworth and Jonson present the feelings in The Affliction of Margaret and On My First Sonne respectively
Compare and contrast how Wordsworth and Jonson present the feelings in 'The Affliction of Margaret' and 'On My First Sonne' respectively
In both poems the poets use a variety of techniques. These techniques portray an array of different feelings. The content of both poems is slightly different, in 'The Affliction of Margret' the poet looks the feelings shown by a mother loosing her child and the uncertainty the mother has to whether her son is alive or dead. In 'On my first Sonne', Jonson looks at the death of a son and how the father is saying goodbye and bringing his grief to an end. He also tries to look at death as a positive however it is evident that his love for his son still continues.
There are many similarities between these two poems , one that can be seen throughout both poems is the continuous love shown by the parents towards their son's. In On my first Sonne the father claims he will never stop loving his son although his grieving is coming to an end. Similarly in The Affliction of Margaret, Margaret is suffering because of the deep love she has for her son.
The poems are both written in the first person an this gives the two poems a conversational tone and makes the reader feel the emotions that the two parents are going through. It also shows that the two parents hope to converse with their children. For example in the affliction of Margret the mother says 'neglect me', and in Jonson's poem the fathers addresses him as 'lov'd boy'. This conversing tone shows how much suffering the parents are going through and how badly they want to speak to their children. The use of exclamation marks adds to this conversational tone and in The affliction of Margaret it emphasises the suffering she is going through.
There is an evident use of personification by both poets, in 'On my first Sonne' Jonson writes, 'rest in soft peace' this gives the impression that he is ending his grieving and going to look at his son's death as a positive. Similarly Wordsworth writes, 'my apprehensions come in clouds', this emphasises the uncertainty the mother is going through and the suffering that comes with it.
The suffering of Margaret is also emphasised by the use of emotive language. In the fifth stanza the phrase 'wet my paths with tears like dew', is a evidence of ...
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There is an evident use of personification by both poets, in 'On my first Sonne' Jonson writes, 'rest in soft peace' this gives the impression that he is ending his grieving and going to look at his son's death as a positive. Similarly Wordsworth writes, 'my apprehensions come in clouds', this emphasises the uncertainty the mother is going through and the suffering that comes with it.
The suffering of Margaret is also emphasised by the use of emotive language. In the fifth stanza the phrase 'wet my paths with tears like dew', is a evidence of the emotive language used to emphasis Margaret's suffering. Dew comes every morning and so this shows how Margaret's suffering is ongoing and it is always with her. In On my first Sonne, the emotive language is not used to emphasise the father's suffering but to comfort the father with the suffering his son has escaped, 'To have so soone scap'd worlds'. This contrasts to emphasise the 'peace' he has now found.
The idea of the father trying to come to terms with his son's death is emphasised by the poets use of questions. For example ,'if no other miserie, yet age'? The father realises that he shouldn't be upset but he should be happy that he has had a chance to be a father and he suggests that his son has escaped the bad things of life, essentially Jonson is trying to put a positive spin on his son's death. Wordsworth also uses questions, but to show Margaret's desire to hear from her son, 'Where art thou', and the repetition of this phrase in the next line emphasises her desperation .
The use of capital letters when the referring to the two son's shows the importance of the son's to their parents. There are also religious connotations by using this, as we address God with a capital letter and we refer to Jesus as God's son. The religious imagery continues in both poems, Jonson opens his poem with 'Farewell, thou child of my right hand' which can be also related to Jesus being God's 'right hand' and it shows how deeper the father loves his son and how highly he is regarded. Furthermore the son's name being 'Benjamin', means 'right hand' in Hebrew and can be linked to the above. In The Affliction of Margaret, Wordsworth writes about how Margaret's son may be free in the 'fowls of heaven', this suggests that Margaret is seeming to embrace the idea of death and that she would prefer her son to be free in heaven with God rather than living a 'chained existence' on earth like herself. Furthermore it suggests that death is more liberating than a life in uncertainty.
In both poems there is a regular rhyme scheme (ABABCCC) emphasises the misery Margaret is going through and the ongoing nature of her suffering. Similarly In 'On my first Sonne', the rhyme scheme stays the same throughout the poem showing the ongoing grief and sorrow the father is experiencing. Although the rhyme scheme is regular there are irregularities in the rhythm and the sentence length. This conveys how the fathers thoughts change and that he is starting accept his son's death.
Although there are many similarities in this poem but there are also many differences. First of all the content is very different , On my first Sonne talks about the death of a son and the end of the fathers grieving. On the other hand The affliction of Margaret looks at the loss of a son and the mother's suffering because of it.
In the last two lines of both poems there is a rhyming couplet but both have contrasting views. On my first Sonne ends with 'For whose sake, hence-forth, all his vowes be such, As what he loves may never like too much', this gives the sense on finality and the fathers end of grieving. The Affliction of Margaret however ends with, 'I have no other earthly friend', which ends the poem with her showing how much grief she has gone through by loosing her son and that now she has no children or relatives to support her.
The language use of both poets is very different. In the Affliction of Margaret Wordsworth uses many powerful adjectives to dramatise his poem. For example he uses 'maimed, mangled by inhuman men', this gives the reader a feeling of horror and the fact that the son may be in real trouble. Also it makes the reader feel the apprehension the mother is going through, additionally makes us feel her suffering. Contrary to this Jonson uses soft, peaceful adjectives, 'rest in soft peace', which gives a peaceful impression and the feeling of acceptance. This is clearly evident in the last line where the end of grieving is marked and the acceptance of death taken by the father. Also some of the particular words Jonson uses are significant in the reader understanding that the father is at the end of his grieving, in lines 3 and 4 the poet uses the words, 'lent, pay and exacted'. These three words suggest that the son was 'lent' to the father and now the father had to 'pay' God back. Furthermore the day the son died was the 'exacted' day he had to die.
The use of repetition in the 'The Affliction of Margaret' gives a sense of Margaret's desperation and her desire to see or hear from her son. It makes the reader feel her rollercoaster emotions from the start of the poem. Conversely in 'On my first Sonne' there is no use of repetition. By not using repetition Jonson emphasises the changing thoughts of the father and how the father is now coming to terms with death, finishing his grieving process and trying to look at his son's death as an positive, 'And, if no other miserie, yet age'?
In conclusion I believe that both 'The Affliction of Margaret' and 'On my first Sonne' demonstrate a whole host of interesting feelings by using many techniques. The poems have both differences and similarities. What I found interesting was how the both poets managed to convey different feelings and different content by using the same techniques. I also found the fact that both poems are written about different things but they both have many similarities. By analysing this poem I have realised that poets can manipulate techniques and use them to portray different imagery or suffering in the case of the mother and father.
