The Body (Motif)
As part of his argument for death being better than life, the speaker refers to “flesh’s rage.” The phrase is a little ambiguous, but we know he’s talking about the bad parts of having a body. That probably includes both unfortunate health problems, and what early modern Christians would have seen as the desires of the flesh, or feelings like lust that they believed came from the body, rather than the “pure” soul. We see a similarly negative orientation towards the body in the next line, where Jonson refers to age as a “misery.” The body is also implicitly present in the end of the poem, where Jonson addresses his son’s grave.
Love (Motif)
Despite the bitter tone of “On my First Son,” it’s also a poem about the love between a father and his child. Jonson begins the poem by speaking about his love for his son, identifying him as the “child of my right hand,” or his favorite child, and as his “joy.” The second line explicitly addresses his son as “lov’d boy.” We can also hear love less explicitly throughout the poem. Jonson’s choice to address his son directly emphasizes their intimate relationship. Even the bitterness he voices at his son’s death is a result of his love for him.
