All Four of the Poems, Follower, Catrin, on My First Sonne (OMFS) and the Song of the Old

All four of the poems, ‘Follower’, ‘Catrin’, On My First Sonne (‘OMFS’) and The Song of the Old Mother (‘TSOTOM’) portray parent/child relationships, but all in a different light. In ‘OMFS’ the writer Ben Jonson talks about the loss of a child and stresses the point that you should never get too attached to your child, [or love ‘hope’ them too much] because they will just be taken from you by God, whereas in ‘Catrin’ it is the opposite, she [loves] cares for her child a lot [and it is the strength of her love that causes the conflict - to let her be independent or to keep her safe] but feels it is a necessity in order to keep her child safe. ‘TSOTOM’ makes the parent child relationship seem [a] more distant [and selfish one] because she works all day to provide for her children while they lie asleep in bed. Although the element of caring for the children is still there it is not a strong theme in the poem. ‘Follower’ is different from these 3 poems as it is being written by the child himself [written by the poet remembering how he felt as a child], not by the parent [from the point of view of the parent]. It tells of the child’s admiration for his father which contrasts with the children in ‘TSOTOM’ who lay in bed dreaming only of their appearance [QUOTE].

In the poem ‘OMFS’ Ben Jonson uses a metaphor of his son as a piece of poetry [QUOTE]. He says his son was his best piece of poetry which positively portrays the relationship they had. There is also a metaphor in ‘Catrin’, but not comparing her daughter to anything, but comparing their bond to a ‘red rope of love’ although in the beginning of the poem it could have a more literal meaning of the umbilical cord. Compared to the positive image (of the relationship) built up in ‘OMFS’ there is a rather negative image (of the relationship portrayed) in ‘Catrin’ using words such as ‘struggle’ and ‘confrontation’ in contrast to ‘lov’d boy’ and ‘rest in peace’. The negative side of the parent child relationship is bought out through use of negative language [QUOTE]. There is also a metaphor [QUOTE] in ‘TSOTOM’ but not to describe her relationship with the children but to describe her and her life. A fire is used to represent her growing old as the fire gets ‘feeble’, suggesting her getting old and being envious of her young children. But there is also a literal meaning of the fire as a fire which stays on all day until the night when she finishes her work [RELEVANCE?]. The language is neither negative nor positive but the alliteration of ‘lye long’ emphasises the fact that the children sleep for hours whilst she slaves away at the housework. This suggests a negative envious relationship with her children. In ‘Follower’ no metaphor is used so it is once again different from the other 3 poems. However a simile [QUOTE] is used throughout the poem comparing his father to a ship [QUOTE] through the waves of soil, showing his father in a good light and portraying the admiration that is present in their relationship. He positively describes his father [QUOTE] but describes himself negatively [QUOTE] through the use of language. In this poem it shows the parent and child relationship as full of admiration.

The poem ‘OMFS’ is gentle; using soft loving language [QUOTE] and the tone is soothing and the old English words [QUOTE] date the poem. It has heavy religious references to God and heaven [QUOTE] whereas the other three poems contain none. [The tone of] ‘Catrin’ is more [of conflict] about the conflict to be separate people than the love between mother and daughter and the oxymoron ‘wild tender circles’ backs up the point – the never ending conflict between the two beings. The alliteration of ‘first fierce’ really emphasises the fighting element of their relationship. [However] ‘TSOTOM’ is more based around the work element of the relationship, with a list of 3 [QUOTE] and repetition of ‘and’ suggesting the day drags on with one chore after another, whilst the children sleep. The real underlying tone of jealousy is stressed as she lists her chores. ‘Follower’ uses technical farming language [QUOTE] suggesting the fact his father was an expert. Enjambment on certain lines [QUOTE] shows the smoothness of his father’s job as he works in unison with the horse [RELEVANCE?]. The air of admiration is shown with positive adjectives [QUOTE].

‘OMFS’ is written as an epigram, unlike the other poems, which have a structure of several stanzas. The shortness of the poem represents the fact that he has dealt with his grief and moved on. As with most epigrams, the most powerful message is at the end [QUOTE]. The message being don’t take too much joy in your children or you will lose them, showing a loving joyful relationship of parent and child when he was alive. ‘Catrin’ is very different in structure to ‘OMFS’ as it consists of two stanzas, one in the past tense talking of the birth, and the other in the present tense describing the teenage years of ‘Catrin’ [RELEVANCE?]. Enjambment [QUOTE] is used to stress the separateness of the two people but at the same time they are still pulled together by their mother daughter bond. [SHOULD THIS GO ABOVE WITH LANGUAGE?] In the poem ‘TSOTOM’ there is a regular rhyme scheme of rhyming couplets [QUOTE] and the constant rhythm stresses the fact her work is unceasing. Its structure is like a song, perhaps that the envious old mother sings. [However] There is no rhyme scheme in ‘Follower’ as with ‘Catrin’ there is no rhyme scheme, and it consists of six stanzas of four lines each showing the regularity of his father’s work and thus underlining the fact that his father works hard and systematically, once again emphasising the sense of admiration. [SHOULD YOU HERE MENTION THE END STANZA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE/POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION AND WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP?]

I like the poem ‘OMFS’ because of the religious reference and poetic imagery of God. It makes me think a lot about the fact that we lament those who are going to a nicer place. It touches me. I dislike the poem ‘Catrin’ as there are no religious references although I can relate more to the bond between mother and daughter. I do not like the poem ‘TSOTOM’ as the subject matter is dull, although the regular rhyme scheme does in some ways make up for it. I do not like the poem ‘Follower’ as the subject is uncommon and the farming terms put me off, but I do like the way he speaks of his father as a ship as it gives a great poetic image of a great man and really gets across his admiration for his father.