Introduction
The Sun Rising is a metaphysical poem written by John Donne, a 17th-century English poet. The poem consists of three stanzas, each exploring different aspects of the speaker's argument with the sun. Let's see the lines.
The Text:
Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices,
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
Thy beams, so reverend and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long;
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,
Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.
She's all states, and all princes, I,
Nothing else is.
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world's contracted thus.
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.
Summary
In the poem, the speaker addresses the sun, which has just risen, with a tone of defiance and superiority. The speaker believes that his love for his partner surpasses the importance of the sun's rays and that their love should be the center of the universe. Love is not subservient to time and season, and the speaker emphasises on the fact by mocking the sun, the keeper of time in the universe.
The first stanza expresses the speaker's annoyance at the sun for disturbing his intimate moments with his lover. He argues that their love is more powerful and valuable than the sun's beams, dismissing the sun's significance and proclaiming that it has no authority over their private world.
In the second stanza, the speaker continues to belittle the sun's grandeur and claims that it only has the power to illuminate the external world, while their love illuminates their internal universe. The speaker argues that their love makes them superior to kings and emperors, dismissing worldly concerns and emphasizing the importance of their personal connection.
The final stanza intensifies the speaker's arrogance and audacity. He challenges the sun's ability to affect their love, asserting that their relationship is not influenced by time or the changing seasons. The speaker declares that he and his lover are their own microcosm, their own world, and nothing external can interfere with their love.
Now let's look a bit deeper into the stanzas.
Analysis
Stanza 1
"Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices,
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time."
In these lines, the speaker addresses the sun, referring to it as a busy old fool and an unruly entity. The speaker questions why the sun disturbs them by shining through the windows and curtains. The speaker challenges the notion that lovers' lives should revolve around the movements of the sun. The speaker continues to insult the sun, calling it a saucy (impudent) and pedantic (overly concerned with formal rules) wretch. The speaker tells the sun to scold late school boys, grumpy apprentices, inform court huntsmen about the king's activities, and summon diligent country workers for their harvest duties. The speaker suggests that the sun should focus on more mundane and trivial matters rather than intruding upon the lovers. The speaker, then, declares that love is unaffected by seasons, geographical locations, or the passing of time. Love transcends these temporary and insignificant measures of time. The speaker suggests that love is eternal and timeless, surpassing the limitations imposed by the conventional divisions of time.
Stanza 2
"Thy beams, so reverend and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long;
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,
Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay."
In these lines, the speaker questions the sun's confidence in its own power. The speaker claims that he has the ability to block the sun's rays and overshadow its brightness, but he chooses not to do so because he doesn't want to lose sight of his lover. The speaker then challenges the sun to observe and report back the next day, questioning whether the treasures of both the Indias (the Indias of spice and mine) are still in their original places or if they are now present in his (speaker's) intimate space. The speaker further challenges the sun to inquire about the kings it witnessed the day before, and it will find that they all reside together in one bed, emphasizing the unity and closeness of the lovers.
Stanza 3
"She's all states, and all princes, I,
Nothing else is.
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy."
Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world's contracted thus.
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere."
Here, the speaker describes his beloved as encompassing all states and princes, suggesting that his lover represents all forms of power and authority. The speaker claims that compared to the love they share, all worldly honor is merely a mockery and all wealth is like an illusion created by alchemy. The speaker elevates the significance of their love above any worldly possessions or social status. In the final lines, the speaker asserts that the sun is only half as happy as they are, because the world is reduced in importance and significance when they are together. The speaker suggests that the sun's old age requires rest and ease, and since its duty is to warm the world, it fulfills that purpose by warming the lovers. The speaker declares that as long as the sun shines upon them, it is present everywhere. Their bed becomes the center of the sun's attention, and the walls of their room become its sphere, highlighting the intimate and all-encompassing nature of their love.
Let's now look at some of the literary devices used in the poem.
Literary Devices
Donne, in this poem used many magnificent literary devices. Few of them are as follows:
1. Apostrophe: The speaker addresses the sun directly, even though it is an inanimate object, using "thou" and "thee." This apostrophe allows the speaker to express his emotions and thoughts to the sun as if it were a person capable of hearing and understanding.
2. Personification: The sun is personified throughout the poem, by giving human attributes and qualities. It is referred to as a "busy old fool," a "saucy pedantic wretch," and is assigned actions such as calling on the lovers and chiding schoolboys.
3. Metaphor: The speaker compares the passing of time (hours, days, months) to "the rags of time," emphasizing the insignificance of these temporal divisions compared to the eternal nature of love.
4. Hyperbole: The speaker exaggerates their ability to eclipse and cloud the sun's beams with a mere wink, conveying their audacity and confidence in the power of their love.
5. Paradox: The speaker states that love knows no seasons or climatic conditions, contradicting conventional notions of love being influenced by external factors.
6. Allusion: The mention of "th' Indias of spice and mine" refers to the exotic and valuable commodities associated with the East, emphasizing the speaker's claim that their love is even more precious and worthy of attention than worldly treasures.
7. Conceit: The entire poem revolves around the conceit of the sun being insignificant compared to the power and importance of the speaker's love. The extended metaphor of the sun's role in warming the world versus its role in warming the lovers further develops this conceit.
These literary devices help to enhance the poem's imagery, emotion, and rhetorical impact, allowing the speaker to convey their feelings and challenge the conventional order of the universe.
Conclusion
The Sun Rising is a complex poem that explores themes of love, defiance, and the power of human connection. It showcases Donne's mastery of metaphysical poetry, with its intricate wordplay, paradoxes, and intellectual exploration of human emotions. Overall, The Sun Rising captures the speaker's defiance towards the sun's intrusion and their assertion of the superiority and timeless nature of their love.
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