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.
suggesting the fact his father was an expert.
‘Follower’ uses technical farming language [QUOTE]
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.