Elegy · Grief

On My First Son

by Ben Jonson · 1616

Reading room

1Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy,

2My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy;

3Seven years th' wert lent to me, and I thee pay,

4Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.

5O, could I lose all father now. For why

6Will man lament the state he should envy?

7To have so soon 'scaped world's and flesh's rage,

8And, if no other misery, yet age?

9Rest in soft peace, and, asked, say here doth lie

10Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry;

11For whose sake, henceforth, all his vows be such

12As what he loves may never like too much.

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“On My First Son” by Ben Jonson — quilloak.com/poems/on-my-first-son

Quick facts

Poem: On My First Son
Poet: Ben Jonson
Published: 1616
Length: 12 lines
Form: Elegy, Epigram
Themes: Grief, Death & Loss, Family

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 12 lines · one 12-line stanza
Line length: Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Ben Jonson1572–1637
Source record: WikisourceOn My First Son by ben-jonson, Wikisource transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: 1616
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 aadeb74ef9ab2e4b…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Elegy Epigram Grief Death & Loss Family

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