The speaker in “On My First Son” compares the years of his son’s short life to the length of a loan. Option C is correct.
On my First Son
BY BEN JONSON
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.
This poem was composed by Ben Jonson in response to his son's untimely death. The poem laments the death of Jonson's son and conveys what seems to be Jonson's feelings of deep sadness.