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The Sun Rising (John Donne)
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A2 Unit 1-John Donne notes
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The Sun RisingFORM AND STRUCTURE
- The poem consists of 3 stanzas, through which a line of argument is developed
1. In stanza 1, the poet tells the sun to go away and leave him and his lover alone
2. In stanza 2, he tells the sun to go to the other side of the world and he will see that
the poet and his lover are the centre of the universe
3. The poet states that if the sun does shine on them, it will be warming the world as
their love is the centre of the universe
- The poet extends the philosophical notion of man as microcosm of the universe (link
to Elizabethan notion of ‘World Order’- in this poem, love is the microcosm of the
universe
- The poem is logical and dialectical in structure
- The poem has a regular rhyme scheme (ABBACDCDEE) but an irregular rhythm to
create the rhythms of the natural speaking voice
- The poem is written from the perspective of the male speaker (similar situation to
Good-Morrow)
- Homily and identifiable situation presented
- The poet negates and dismisses the outside world (link to Donne in exile after
injudicious decision to marry Anne Donne without his parent’s permission)
- The poem is an Aubade (poem to the dawn)- However, Donne subverts this poetic
form- does not praise or glorify the sun but presents it as an intruder
- The poem is an irreverent address to the sun- the sun is the greatest life-giving force
of the universe
- Unlike ‘The Good-Morrow’, this poem is an apostrophe to the sun rather than the
poet’s lover
- The apostrophic nature of the poem emphasises its dramatic quality
LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY
Context
- Donne had just forfeited his job as a secretary and he was exiled from the world of
affairs and London
- This poem was written shortly after his marriage to Anne Donne (Donne was
imprisoned for failing to ask for her hands in marriage) and James I coronation
- The poem has a mood of optimism as the male speaker triumphantly challenges the
sun itself
- The traditionally accepted geocentric universe had been challenged and disproved
by Galileo’s heliocentric model of the universe. (This went against Church teaching
that God created man at the centre of the universe)The central conceit of the poem
is a development of this. For the male speaker, his self-contained world with his
, mistress is the new centre of the earth. The poet wittily subverts and exploits the
cosmological idea.
Body of the Poem
Stanza 1
- Line 1: The poem has a bold, brusque, abrupt opening address. Through the
unflattering epithets “Busy old fool” the sun is not reverently extolled as the life-
giving force of the universe but is derogatorily personified as an intruding presence.
The poet’s accusation is highly ironic. The sun is highly orderly (night and day is
rhythm through which the whole universe operates) yet is presented by the poet as
chaotic and disorderly “unruly”
- Line 2: The simple monosyllabic language “Why dost thou thus” evokes the natural
rhythms of a conversation and also conveys the irritation of the speaker being woken
up after a night of passion
- Line 3: Through the rhetorical question, “Through windows and through curtains
call on us” the speaker questions the presence of the sun. The mundane, homily
language evokes the unfolding scenario of the lovers in the bedroom. The
ridiculousness and absurdity of the question (the sun has to rise) emphasises the
arrogance of the speaker (cocky confidence of successful lover)
- Line 4: The poet haughtily questions the regularity of the sun, “Must to thy
motions.” The central theme of love and time is introduced through the seasonal
imagery, “lovers’ seasons run.” Seasonal and temporal language is dominant
linguistic patterns in the poem. Love is a transforming experience that removes you
from the rhythms of reality. (confidence and arrogance of speaker)
- Line 5: Through the use of personification, “Saucy pedantic wretch” the poet
accuses the sun of being voyeuristic and predictable. The irreverent tone emphasises
the derogatory nature of the speaker. While the lovers are extolled, the sun is
insulted “wretch”- the sun is confined by time as it is the generator of time. Sun is
also solitary- this contrast to the virtue of love
- Line 6: The negative language “late…sour” contrasts with the idealised presentation
of the lovers
- Line 7-9: The list-like nature of these lines evokes the hierarchical, stratified nature
of 17th Century society. The linguistic pattern of imperative verbs, “Go tell…Call”
evokes the arrogant confidence of the speaker. Through the list-like structure, the
poet emphasises his absurd argument and suggests people the sun could call upon
rather than the lovers. There is an implication that the speaker is aware of the
outside world despite claiming to be unconfined by time
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