The poets use very different styles of language to convey their message. For example Nettles uses comforting words such as “soothed” and the poem on my first Sonne uses sad language like “to have soone scap’d worlds” and also just simple words such as “Farewell” express his sadness for his child. Another difference between the two poems language used is that On my first Sonne uses old style English such as “I thee pay” where as Nettles uses Standard English. Nettles also describes the nettles as a regiment as it says “that regiment of spite behind the shed” and “stood upright” which could be describing them as soldiers, this is using poem techniques unlike On my first sonne which uses no poetic language because it was a funeral poem so Ben Jonson made it to suit a sad event and made it effective. These examples show that the poems use different languages and I think that On my first sonne is much more effective than Nettles because without using poetic techniques Ben Jonson has still made the poem very effective as it makes me very sad for him.
To convey meaning and create the mood and feeling in both poems the poets have expressed themselves by using words that are angry at points and also they both use sad and caring words that set the mood of the poems at points. Nettles uses words that include “fury” and “fierce” this sets the atmosphere of the poem to be angry this is also used it On my first sonne where it says “rage” and “envie” this shows that the poems both have comparisons. Both poems also share another similarity which is they both have a quite sad mood throughout each of them, Nettles says things such as “white blisters on his tender skin” this is an example of how the poem is sad. It makes them poem effective because it makes the reader sad and feel for the child and their parent. On my first sonne says “seven yeeres tho’wert lent to me, and I thee pay” this tells us about his son dieing which like Nettles is very sad and makes the reader feel upset for the poet this is why it is so effective and because he tells us about how his love killed him and how god is taking him this is very upsetting which makes it more effective than Nettles.
The language used in both poems is very different because in Nettles it talks about how the Nettles are like a regiment and the parent wants to fight back, so he cuts them down but they come back and it shows that the parent cant protect them from everything in the world, where as the language used in On my first sonne conveys Ben Jonson’s feelings for his child when it says “lov’d boy” this summarizes the fact of Jonson loving his son.
I think that On my first sonne is very effective because it is a very serious matter that is written very well, with out the use of poetic writing such as similes and onomatopoeia.
Jonson makes the death of his son sound much more comforting by using words like “rest in soft peace”, which is very effective as it makes death sound more comforting and soothing. Nettles is not as effective as On my first sonne but still effective because it uses nettles as a metaphor for the pain and hurt involved in growing up, and a father’s desire to protect his son, which is effective because it has deeper meaning than just the poem about nettles.
Nettles made me think deeper into what I was reading an also made me think that the parent of the child is a loving caring parent. It didn’t make me sad, unlike On my first sonne which made me very upset when I read about how much he loved his son, So from reading them both and comparing them, I consider On my first sonne to be the much more effective poem out of the two.