What I learned about this poem

I have learned so much from this poem, maybe because I related well to this poem. What I learned about this poem or how I interpreted this poem would be the following. During the line “Mary, the daughter of their youth..” could describe how Mary was the name of the child that the couple, in this case the king and the queen, at such a young age. The following lines, “Yet all heaven’s gifts, being heaven’s due..” could mean that the young infant was a gift to her parents from heaven, but the second line foreshadows her death. Heaven’s due, meaning that she will return to heaven at some point. But, the next line, “At six month’s end, she parted hence with safety of her innocence,” lets the reader know that the young baby girl died at six months of age. When Ben Johnson refers to “safety of her innocence” he means that the infant’s innocent age assures her a place in heaven. The young infant girl also bore the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the poem they call her the Queen of Heaven; I assume that perhaps the family was religious. The following lines refer to where the child was place after death and was buried. “This grave partakes the fleshy birth, which cover lightly, gentle earth.” These lines explain that they place the body of their child in the grave and plead for the dirt to cover her gently.

It’s evident in reading On My First Daughter, that although his daughter’s death was a painful experience, Jonson found some degree of comfort in the idea that his daughter was returning to heaven. Throughout this poem he is expressing gratitude for the brief time he had with her; and furthermore, he is accepting the fact that he had to return her. This was a great poem but very touching.

Image by: Catherine Joll
Web site: http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Ben_Jonson
Web site: http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft538nb2zt&chunk.id=d0e3522&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e2157&brand=ucpress

What I learned about this project

I think that this Project, “My Poetry Blog” has been a great learning experience for me because it not only allowed me to reflect upon poetry, but also upon myself. For example, during the process of completing the post on “My history of reading poetry” I reflected upon my childhood memories of when I began to enjoy reading poetry.

I also reflected upon my personal history while I was completing the post of “How this poem relates to me”. My personal history is similar to the father's, but I wasn’t the parent that suffered the loss of a child, I was the sibling who lost their older sister. I can truly say that this poem by Ben Johnson, “On my First Daughter”, has really affected me. It has allowed me to think differently about my sister’s death, and think positively rather than grieving over her death.

This Project has also, allowed me to recall when I first began to read poetry, and compare how simple poetry was to me back in elementary compare and how complicated it is to me now. But, even though it can get difficult I can also say that this project has allowed me to enjoy poetry and find a greater meaning within a poem. I had also learned to relate to the poem I read and ask myself questions as I read them.

This project has also integrated technology with literature. This opportunity allowed me to enjoy the project more. For example, I was more motivated to complete the assignment on a blog rather than writing a research paper on the poem of my choice, which was “On My First Daughter.” Being motivated, gave me the opportunity to give my best effort into my final project.

I can truly say that this poetry blog has allowed me to view poetry differently and with a positive view.

Image by: AriCee

How I Relate to This Poem

This poem can relate to everyone in the sense that everyone loses a loved one within their life time. But, I don’t believe that everyone can relate to the father who lost his daughter as an infant. But as I grew up my mother gradually told me about my older sister. I wasn’t born at the time and I also came find out that I wouldn’t be the oldest, but instead I would have an older sister, and she would be one year older than me. I was surprised to find this out because I wasn’t aware that I had an older sister. Not only did she die but, she passed away at the age of one month. She was also my parents first child, just like the kings daughter, was his first as well. My dad discovered her pale in her crib in the middle of the night, when he had woken up to get water. I wasn’t born at the time and I came to also find out that I wouldn’t be the oldest, but instead I would be the second oldest, and she would be one year older than me.

When my parents told me about my sister, I began to cry. Just thinking that I could have a sister, an older sister, that I could have someone to guide me, someone to talk to as an older sister. It is very sad to think about it that way, but my mom and dad viewed it the same way the father did. At first they would grieve over her death, but they now explain to me that she’s in heaven now because she was one of God’s innocent creations, and she is now with Him. Their loss is less painful to them and to me think about her death in that way. It is true, she never did anything wrong, and if she passed away it was because God wanted it that way.

Hearing about someone losing a family member is very sad to hear, but when it comes to an infant it’s much sadder, because they were innocent beings who never did anything wrong. The most painful feeling is when a mother or father looses their child. These cases are very sad, but they can be less painful if you console yourself or the affected ones to understand that they are God’s creation, and like the poem says, “Yet all heaven’s gifts, being heaven’s due” meaning that they are now in heaven.

My "History" of Reading Poetry

My first introduction to poetry would have to be when I first entered kindergarten. I remember one of my first poetry books that I read; it was called Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. I enjoyed learning about poetry, but at that young age I wasn’t aware that I was becoming familiar with poetry. I also enjoyed listening to the rhymes by Dr. Seuss and to this day I can remember a few lines from Green Eggs and Ham. But, through time I have learned that there is more to poetry than just a few rhyming lines.

Photo by:fragglerawker_03

When I reached middle school I remember, that we began to write poems rather than just reading them. Many of the poems that we were assigned to write were topics of our choice, and the teachers would only tell us the type of poem that they wanted. For example, when I was in the 8th grade our teacher assigned us a haiku poem and I chose to do mine about the flowers in nature and their natural beauty. Another poem that was given to us was free verse poem, and I enjoyed this one the best because it allowed me to express my self without having constraints on my form of writing my poem. At the end of my 8th grade year, we collected all our poems and created a poetry book. I can truly say that “my poetry book” was a great learning experience for me.

Poetry is more difficult to me now than what I thought it was when I was back in elementary school. I have to approach poetry differently than I do with any other type of literature. Part of this different approach could be because, I find it very difficult to comprehend and sometimes even the form or style that it is written can be confusing. But, now I am attending college English classes that “dissect” poetry. I can still read poetry and enjoy it but it has become more complicated for me to quickly understand the meaning of the poem. Even through all my struggling to understand poetry, I still enjoy reading, learning about, and sharing poetry.

“On My First Daughter” (1616) by Ben Johnson

Here lies, to each her parents’ ruth,

Mary, the daughter of their youth:

Yet all heaven’s gifts, being heave’s due,

At six month’s end, she parted hence

With safety of her innocence;

Whose soul heaven’s Queen (whose name she bears),

In comfort of her mother’s tears,

Hath placed amongst her virgin-train:

Where, while that severed doth remain,

This grave partakes the fleshy birth,

Which cover lightly, gentle earth.