On My First Son Resources

Here's a Ben Jonson site that plays music and contains a number of links.

This is a short biography about the poet with links to purchase and read his works.

Check out a discussion of Jonson that focuses on his plays.

Dig (sorry) this info at the poet's grave's website.

Here's Jonson's page at the Westminster Abbey website.

Try your hand at Jonson's style. You can download fonts that will make your writing look like something written during the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

Check out the University of Delaware's men's chorus performing the poem.

Here's a fellow wearing a hoodie and reading the poem in what looks to be a walk-in closet.

Here's a British kid discussing the poem, with some wild visual aids.

A young person reads the poem, but not with much enthusiasm.

This version is a tad more…dramatic.

Here's a famous painting of Ben Jonson.

Here's a page from a manuscript showing Jonson's handwriting.

Check out Jonson's burial place in Westminster Abbey (it says "O rare Ben Jonson").

Check out this great article by famous poet Robert Pinksy. In it, he discusses the role of the speaker in "On My First Son."

In this article, a scholar reflects on the theme of fatherhood in this poem.

See page 175 for "On My First Son."

Here's a biography by scholar Ian Donaldson.