In “On My First Son,” the speaker reveals to the reader a lesson he has learned from the loss of his son. What twist in meaning exists in the following line: “What he loves may never like too much” (line 12)?

Answer:

The speaker vows not to love anything too much because excessive love can lead to overwhelming grief when the loved person or thing is lost. The line is also ironic: although he claims he will control his love in the future, the poem’s intense sorrow shows that he loved his son deeply and cannot easily escape that love.