Analysis Of The Sun Rising By John Donne

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Recommended: The metaphysical poetry 17 century

Good morning fellow poetry enthusiasts of the Tablelands Poetry Society and a warm welcome to today’s poetry seminar “Poetry Matters.” My name is Laura Davidson and the focus of my poetry analysis today is “The Sun Rising” by one of the most celebrated poets of the metaphysical era, John Donne. "The Sun Rising" is an enchanting and captivating read where Donne declares to the sun and to the entire world that his lover is the centre of the universe. In my seminar today, I invite you to reflect on my reading and analysis of The Good Morrow, and in particular focus on the skilful ways in which Donne shares his frustration with the sun for ending the night he had just spent his beloved.
John Donne was born in 1572 in London. His family were Roman Catholic when practicing this religion was illegal in England at the time. He was quite a promiscuous man shared his love amongst many women but I it suggested that “The Sun Rising” is written about his true beloved, Anne More. The themes of love and dissatisfaction run through this poem. Love in "The Sun Rising" is immediate and romantic. It’s the kind of love that makes the speaker feel like they can pick a fight with the sun, which is what Donne did after all. John Donne is dissatisfied with the sun for ending the night spent with his beloved. He doesn’t wish to re-join the world.
Like many of us in the morning, Donne starts off angry at the sun while lying in bed with his beloved. He calls the rising sun a “busy old fool,” and asks why it is bothering them through windows and curtains, “Busy old fool, unruly sun; why dost thou thus; through windows, and through curtains, call on us?” In lines 4 to 10 he describes how love is not subject to season or to time, he says, and he scolds the sun...

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...exempt. Their intense love breaks free of that chain. (Shmoop, 2014) Most of the imagery is in the second stanza, Donne argues that for all their strength of the sun’s light beams, they can be put out if he simply closes his eyes. Obviously, this isn’t literal because shutting your eyes does not make the sun disappear, it is still there. Donne creates an excellent poem with his smart and purposeful use of poetic techniques.
John Donne effectively evokes the discourse of love through the use of subject matter, theme and poetic devices such as imagery, symbolism and structure. “The Sun Rising” is a good example of a metaphysical poem in terms of its development and successfully expresses Donne’s love for his beloved and the frustration he feels towards the sun. I hope this seminar has enlightened all you poetry enthusiasts over John Donne’s talent as a metaphysical.

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