In this poetry comparison, I am going to be comparing two poems the first being Remember by Christina Rosseti in 1862. The second poem is On My First Son by Ben Johnson this was written in 1603

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David Cain 10.1        English Poetry Comparison         Mrs.Harding


In this poetry comparison, I am going to be comparing two poems the first being Remember by Christina Rosseti in 1862. The second poem is On My First Son by Ben Johnson this was written in 1603. These two poems are similar in some ways as the general themes are death, not just death of a person but also death of love and relationships, these two other interpretations are extremely subtle I will talk about this later on in my essay. Another similarity is that they both use imagery, this technique is extremely effective as this allows you to imagine what the author is thinking when they are writing.  

In my first poem the woman is thought to be talking about what she wants when she dies. “When I am gone away” this starts the poem off making the reader think the poem is about death in general. She then continues talking about what, she wants when she dies. “Remember me when no more day by day” this means that she wants to be remembered every day after she has died.

In the second poem, Ben Jonson is firstly talking about the loss of his son and how he thinks that he has loved him too much. “Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy” This introduces the theme of death the poem to the reader, and makes the reader ask the question “too much hope of thee, lov’d?” This is saying have I loved my son too much. Throughout the poem Ben Jonson asks more rhetorical questions such as “To have so soon ‘scaped world’s and flesh’s rage, and, if no other misery. Yet age?” This is saying why was he taken from the world at such a young age. Ben Johnson is doing this to keep the audience asking question why does he blame himself for his sons death, for which he tries to prove to the reader that it was his fault, later on in the poem “Seven years thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay.” This is saying that for the time that his son was with him he did something wrong and this is how god is punishing him by taking his child back.

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These two poems contrast in several ways one of these is that these two quotes are similar “Remember me when no more day by day” and “To have soon “scaped worlds” and flesh’s rage, and, if no other misery, yet age?” The quote from remember saying “Remember me when no more day by day” this can refer to my other poem because the father has just lost his child so he will be remembering him more and more each day as he thinks that it is his fault that he has been taken from him.

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