Exploring The Theme Of Premature Death In Three Poems Death in the family is shocking, and it is even more appalling when it is unforeseen and when it takes a child. Three poets have written from personal experience three renowned poems on this theme. Margaret Atwood wrote “Death of a Young Son by Drowning”, Seamus Heaney gave us “Mid-term Break”, and Ben Johnson penned On My First Son. These three poets use the titles, situations, tones, language, structure, and musical devices in their poems to convey to the reader their different reflections about the common theme of grief over the unexpected death of a young loved one. The title