Summary

The speaker, who in this particular case is synonymous with the poet Ben Jonson, says goodbye to his late son. He admits that his biggest mistake was having too much hope for his child, who has now been taken from him at just seven years old. The death of his son is, he asserts, the payment he must make for this "sin" (2).

Jonson asks why men should mourn for the dead, because it is the dead whom they should actually envy. The dead are free of man's whims on earth, including wrath and old age.

Jonson tells his son to rest peacefully, and if he is ever asked, to explain that he was the best piece of poetry his father ever wrote. Jonson vows, in the name of his late son, never to love anything too much for the rest of his life.

Analysis