Death in Jonson and Nashe: A Comparative Poetry Analysis
This paper examines the theme of death in three early modern English poems: Ben Jonson's "On My First Son" and "On My First Daughter," and Thomas Nashe's "A Litany in Time of Plague." Through comparative analysis, the paper explores how each poet approaches mortality from a distinct vantage point — Jonson as a grieving father processing sorrow, relief, and acceptance after the loss of his children, and Nashe through the voice of a plague-stricken man reflecting on the futility of earthly wealth, strength, and health in the face of inevitable death. Despite their different perspectives, both poets ultimately arrive at acceptance of death's inescapable nature.
- Introduction: Death as a Literary Theme: Death as theme in Jonson and Nashe
- Ben Jonson's 'On My First Son': Sorrow, Relief, and Acceptance: Jonson's paternal grief and eventual acceptance
- Ben Jonson's 'On My First Daughter': Reverence and Detachment: Jonson's reverence and emotional distance for daughter
- Thomas Nashe's 'A Litany in Time of Plague': A Dying Man's Reflections: Nashe's plague speaker reflects on mortality
- Conclusion: Shared Themes, Different Perspectives: Both poets arrive at acceptance of death
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper maintains a clear comparative structure throughout, keeping both authors in view and returning to shared themes — particularly the acceptance of death — to unify the analysis.
- It tracks emotional progression within Jonson's poems stanza by stanza, giving readers a sense of how the poems develop as arguments, not just expressions of grief.
- The paper identifies meaningful contrasts within the comparison: Jonson's personal, paternal voice versus Nashe's universalized, communal speaker broadens the thematic scope without losing focus.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates close reading integrated with comparative framing. The writer selects specific quoted lines from each poem and uses them as evidence to support claims about tone, emotion, and theme — for example, tracing Jonson's shift from sorrow to acceptance across the stanzas of "On My First Son." This evidence-based approach grounds the literary interpretation in the actual language of the texts.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad thematic introduction situating death in human culture and literature, then narrows to the specific poems and a guiding thesis. The body is organized by author and poem, analyzing Jonson's two elegies before moving to Nashe's plague poem. A brief conclusion draws the threads together by identifying the common endpoint — acceptance — that unifies all three poems despite their differing perspectives.
Introduction: Death as a Literary Theme
The history of humanity has consistently shown how death is defined and described as a direct contrast to life — how, in the joy of giving birth to life, humans also grieve and express sorrow in death. Indeed, death has been painted symbolically in art and literature as darkness, a mystery that cannot be understood or fully discerned. The enigma that is death continues to haunt humanity, and the dread people feel when death is impending reflects humanity's pursuit for enlightenment and understanding of mortality.
It is not surprising, then, that the theme of death became common ground for Ben Jonson and Thomas Nashe's poetry. In "On My First Son" and "On My First Daughter" by Ben Jonson, and "A Litany in Time of Plague" by Thomas Nashe, both authors explore the theme of death, though each approaches it from a different point of view. Jonson's poems address death from the perspective of a parent bearing the sorrow of his children's untimely deaths. Nashe, similarly, takes up the theme of death in his Litany, but does so through the voice of a man nearing death because of the plague. This comparative analysis posits that Jonson and Nashe's poems both illuminate the mystery of — and surprising revelations about — death: Jonson from the perspective of a father bemoaning the loss of a son and daughter, and Nashe from that of a dying man reflecting on his life and inevitable end.
Works Cited
Jonson, B. (1999). "Works of Ben Jonson: On my first son." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature website. Retrieved 19 November 2009. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/son.htm
Jonson, B. (1999). "Works of Ben Jonson: On my first daughter." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature website. Retrieved 19 November 2009. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/daughter.htm
Nashe, T. (2009). "A litany in time of plague." PoemHunter website. Retrieved 19 November 2009. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-litany-in-time-of-plague/
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