Relationships. CCEA GCSE English Literature. Poetry Notes. irevise.com Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes

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1 Relationships CCEA GCSE English Literature Poetry Notes irevise.com Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes

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3 Table of Contents Summary... 6 Annotation... 7 Summary... 9 Annotation How do I love thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Summary Annotation To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell Summary Annotation The Laboratory by Robert Browning Summary Annotation Remember by Christina Rossetti Summary Annotation When You Are Old by WB Yeats Summary Annotation i carry your heart by ee cummings Context/Summary Annotation Funeral Blues by WH Auden Summary Annotation Long Distance II by Tony Harrison Summary Annotation Wild Oats by Philip Larkin Summary Annotation Summary Annotation Before You Were Mine by Carol Ann Duffy Summary Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes

4 Annotation Clearances 7 by Seamus Heaney Context/Summary Annotation I Am Very Bothered by Simon Armitage Summary Annotation Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes

5 On My First Son by Ben Jonson On My First Son Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy. Seven years tho' wert lent to me, and I thee pay, Exacted by thy fate, on the just day. O, could I lose all father now! For why Will man lament the state he should envy? To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage, And if no other misery, yet age? Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say, "Here doth lie Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry." For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such, As what he loves may never like too much. 5 Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes

6 Summary On My First Son is a poem about Jonson s feelings on the death of his eldest son at the age of seven. He says goodbye to his son, and wishes that he had never been a father because of the grief he feels. He then suggests that he should be feeling joy because his son has escaped the cares of the world and is now in heaven. 6 Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes

7 Annotation On My First Son (a direct, literal title; this poem is the poet s tribute) Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; ( Farewell the speaker is saying goodbye to his deceased son; child of my right hand suggests that father and son were close, i.e. the son could always be found at his father s right hand ; he was, as the title, the speaker s first-born son and likely his eldest child, i.e. his heir) My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy. (the speaker confesses to making a mistake: to have had too high hopes for his son; perhaps his having such high hopes tempted fate, he implies) Seven years tho' wert lent to me, and I thee pay, (the son died aged seven; he was lent to his father; i.e. he belonged to and in heaven) Exacted by thy fate, on the just day. (the speaker says that he has paid the debt he owed for having his son through his suffering in the wake of his son s death) O, could I lose all father now! For why (here, the speaker exaggerates his grief; he says he would rather lose the opportunity of fatherhood than suffer the potential grief it brings) Will man lament the state he should envy? (the speaker seeks some solace in the crux of this question; he is grieving, yes, but he can accept, because of his faith, that his son has gone to a better place; the speaker then reasons that he should feel jealous, envy, his son s deceased state ) To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage, And if no other misery, yet age? (life and the body are full of anger, rage, i.e. suffering; even if one lives a relatively happy life, they must still endure the aging process) Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say, "Here doth lie Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry." (the speaker wishes for his son to rest in especially gentle, soft, peace; if he is asked, the speaker s son is to say that he is Ben Jonson, and his best work; this could imply that the speaker is saying a part of him, the best part of him, died when his son passed away, this line may also make veiled reference to this text) For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such, ( For whose sake the speaker continues to refer to himself in the third-person, as if he feels detached from himself and the life he lived while his son was alive) As what he loves may never like too much. (in these closing lines, the speaker says that from now on he will try not to love too much, because this only leads to pain and loss) 7 Relationships Poetry GCSE English Literature Revision Notes