The Sunne Rising by John Donne Analysis
First Stanza
Line 1: Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Explanation: This line is an attention-grabbing opening that immediately establishes the speaker’s tone of playful exasperation. The use of the terms “busy old fool” and “unruly” suggests that the sun is a bumbling and out-of-control force that is disrupting the speaker’s peace.
Line 2: Why dost thou thus,
Explanation: This line continues the speaker’s interrogation of the sun, asking it directly why it is behaving so inconsiderately.
Line 3: Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Explanation: This line describes the sun’s intrusive behavior, shining through windows and curtains and waking the speaker and his beloved up. The use of the word “call” suggests that the sun is actively trying to get their attention.
Line 4: Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Explanation: This line is a rhetorical question that challenges the sun’s assumption that its movements control the lives of lovers. The speaker suggests that love is not bound by the same rules as the natural world.
Line 5: Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Explanation: This line continues the speaker’s scolding of the sun, using the terms “saucy” and “pedantic” to suggest that the sun is both rude and pompous. The speaker tells the sun to go and “chide” others, implying that it should not be bothering him and his beloved.
Line 6: Late school boys and sour prentices,
Explanation: This line specifies the groups of people that the speaker thinks the sun should be bothering instead of him and his beloved. The terms “late school boys” and “sour prentices” suggest that these are people who deserve to be reprimanded.
Line 7: Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,
Explanation: This line continues the list of tasks that the speaker thinks the sun should be doing, suggesting that it should be announcing the king’s activities instead of intruding on the speaker’s private life.
Line 8: Call country ants to harvest offices,
Explanation: this line urge lowly farm workers to start their harvesting duties
Line 9: Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Explanation: This line is a declaration of the power of love to transcend the limitations of time and geography. The speaker suggests that love is not bound by the seasons or the climate, and that it can exist in any place and at any time.
Line 10: Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
Explanation: This line continues the speaker’s critique of time, suggesting that the divisions of hours, days, and months are merely superficial and meaningless in the face of love’s eternal power.
Second Stanza
Line 1: Thy beams, so reverend and strong
Explanation: This line begins by addressing the sun directly, using the terms “reverend” and “strong” to suggest that the sun is a powerful and respected force.
Line 2: Why shouldst thou think?
Explanation: This line is a rhetorical question that challenges the sun’s assumption that its beams are worthy of reverence. The speaker suggests that the sun’s power is meaningless in the face of love.
Line 3: I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
Explanation: This line is a hyperbolic statement that emphasizes the speaker’s confidence in his love’s power. He suggests that he could easily block out the sun’s light with a simple wink.
Line 4: But that I would not lose her sight so long;
Explanation: This line explains the speaker’s reason for not eclipsing the sun. He would rather not lose sight of his beloved, even for a moment.
Line 5: If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Explanation: This line suggests that the speaker’s beloved’s eyes are so beautiful that they could even blind the sun. The use of the word “blinded” reinforces the idea that the speaker’s love is more powerful than the sun.
Line 6: Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,
Explanation: This line is a command to the sun, telling it to look upon the speaker and his beloved and then report back the next day. The use of the phrase “tomorrow late” emphasizes the speaker’s confidence in the enduring power of their love.
Line 7: Whether both th’ Indias of spice and mine
Explanation: Here Donne is referring to the East Indies for spices and the West Indies for gold. In a 1623 letter to Sir Robert Ker, Donne wrote: “Your way into Spain was Eastward, and that is the way to the land of Perfumes and Spices; their way hither is Westward, and that is the way to the land of Gold, and of Mynes.” [John Donne: Selected Prose. Edited by Helen Gardner and Timothy Healy, p. 155
Line 8: Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Explanation: This line is a challenge to the sun, asking it whether the riches of the East Indies and west indies will still be in their place when the sun rises the next day, or whether they will have been transformed into the speaker’s beloved. This line further emphasizes the speaker’s belief in the transformative power of love.
Line 9: Ask for those kings whom thou saw’st yesterday,
Explanation: This line continues the challenge to the sun, asking it to inquire about the whereabouts of the kings it saw the previous day. This line suggests that the speaker believes that the kings have been transformed by love, just as the riches of the East Indies and west indies have been transformed into his beloved.
Line 10: And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.
Explanation: This line is the sun’s response to the speaker’s challenge. The sun informs the speaker that it will find the kings all lying in one bed with the speaker and his beloved. This line confirms the speaker’s belief that love has the power to transform and unify.
Third Stanza
Line 1: She’s all states, and all princes, I,
Explanation: This line is a declaration of the speaker’s belief that his beloved embodies all the power and prestige of the world’s states and princes. The use of the pronoun “I” suggests that the speaker sees himself as insignificant in comparison to his beloved.
Line 2: Nothing else is.
Explanation: This line is a continuation of the previous line, emphasizing the speaker’s belief that his beloved is the only thing that matters. The use of the word “is” in the present tense suggests that the speaker’s love for his beloved is an eternal and enduring truth.
Line 3: Princes do but play us; compared to this,
Explanation: This line begins by suggesting that princes and their games of power are insignificant when compared to the power of love. The use of the word “but” suggests that the speaker believes that princes are merely frivolous and superficial.
Line 4: All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Explanation: This line continues the critique of princes and their wealth, suggesting that their honor is merely a reflection of true honor, and that their wealth is illusory. The use of the word “alchemy” suggests that the speaker believes that the wealth of princes is created through trickery and deception.
Line 5: Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,
Explanation: This line is a direct address to the sun, suggesting that even the sun is not as happy as the speaker and his beloved. The use of the phrase “half as happy” emphasizes the depth and intensity of the speaker’s love.
Line 6: In that the world’s contracted thus.
Explanation: This line explains the reason for the sun’s inferiority, suggesting that the sun’s gaze is spread out over the entire world, while the speaker and his beloved are focused on each other. The use of the word “contracted” suggests that the speaker believes that the world is a vast and empty place, while his love for his beloved is a concentrated and meaningful experience.
Line 7: Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
Explanation: This line suggests that the sun, as an old and weary entity, should focus on resting and fulfilling its duties rather than intruding on the speaker’s private life. The use of the word “asks” suggests that the speaker believes that the sun is yearning for rest and peace.
Line 8: To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Explanation: This line is a continuation of the previous line, suggesting that the sun can fulfill its duty of warming the world by simply warming the speaker and his beloved. The use of the word “that’s” suggests that the speaker believes that his love is a microcosm of the world, and that by warming them, the sun is indirectly warming the entire planet.
Line 9: Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
Explanation: This line is an instruction to the sun, telling it to focus its light on the speaker and his beloved. The use of the word “everywhere” suggests that the speaker believes that their love is so powerful that it radiates outwards and fills the entire world.
Line 10: This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.
Explanation: This line is a final declaration of the speaker’s belief that his love is the center of the universe. The use of the words “center” and “sphere” suggests that the speaker believes that their love is a self-contained and all-encompassing world.
