Though I Am Young and Cannot Tell
by Ben Jonson Ben Jonson
Though I am young, and cannot tell
Either what Death or Love is well,
Yet I have heard they both bear darts,
And both do aim at human hearts.
And then again, I have been told
Love wounds with heat, as Death with cold;
So that I fear they do but bring
Extremes to touch, and mean one thing.
As in a ruin we it call
One thing to be blown up, or fall;
Or to our end like way may have
By a flash of lightning, or a wave;
So Love’s inflamèd shaft or brand
May kill as soon as Death’s cold hand;
Except Love’s fires the virtue have
To fight the frost out of the grave.
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i enjoyed this poem alot especially because it brings two opposites together in a unique way. they talk about love and lost and then to sort of back up what their saying they speak about heat and cold which are also two opposites and i think it was very clever. great poem :)
ReplyDeleteI find that this poem talks about both, love and death and compares them to different things. Although love and death are very different from eachother, Jonson states that "they both bear darts, and both do aim at human hearts." I feel that Jonson is saying that although these two topics are very different, they are still very alike at the same time; they both have they're goods and bads. I also like they way the poet depicts death as cold and love as fire
ReplyDeleteI think that this author wants the reader to understand that both love and death have the potential to hurt us. At the end he shows us that death can be less frightening if we have someone to care for us.
ReplyDeleteI love how this poem draws on the parallel of love and death to Heat and cold. With this in mind I like how the author further goes on this parallel by saying that heat cures the cold something that is very true. Also I enjoy how this poem seems to be written by somebody young(like my self) who doesn't necessarily have all the experience necessary to fully understand the issue at hand
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