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 lines 5–10, the speaker hurls abusive language at the sun, whose early-morning incursion into his bedroom has either woken him or disturbed a tryst with his lover. Annoyed, the speaker wants to tell the sun off. The speaker’s invective is amusing for the way it addresses the sun as a nosy and irritating old fool with nothing better to do. Scolding the sun, the speaker instructs it to go attend to duties that are more pressing than peeping into his bedroom. The sun should help make sure students get to class on time, or alert agricultural workers (“country ants”) that it’s time to go tend their fields. These are worldly activities that require the kind of punctuality that a “pedantic wretch” like the sun represents. But for lovers like the speaker and his mistress, such strict adherence to time makes no sense. As the speaker puts it, “Love . . . no season knows no clime.” Whereas the sun is responsible for keeping track of the “hours, days, [and] months,” love transcends these “rags of time.” Here, the speaker makes a strong claim for the primacy of love over all other things—including the immutable motions of celestial bodies like the sun.
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
These lines (11–14) come from the second stanza, where the speaker shifts into a somewhat more playful mood. Instead of continuing his earlier abuse, the speaker now asserts his supremacy over the sun. He starts by appearing to compliment the sun for the power of its “beams” of light, “so reverend and strong.” Then, in an amusing reversal, the speaker insists that he, a mere human, “could eclipse and cloud [those beams] with a wink.” His use of the word eclipse here is clever, since it specifically references the blocking of one celestial body by another. However powerful the sun may be, the speaker can overshadow it. Of course, the speaker’s boast is an empty one, for he’d damage his sight if he literally stared into the sun. And in any case, he implies that he won’t actually “wink” at the sun, since doing so would require him to look away from his lover. This latter admission makes it clear that the speaker’s words aren’t in fact directed toward the sun at all. Instead, he’s attempting to impress and flatter his lover.
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.
In lines 15–18, the speaker continues to flatter his lover through his comic address to the sun. In the lines immediately prior to these, the speaker declared that he could “eclipse” the sun’s powerful beams with a mere “wink.” Here he implies that his lover has an even more powerful gaze, which wouldn’t simply overshadow the sun but leave it “blinded.” But perhaps more important than this passing bit of flattery is the speaker’s first hint at the idea that his bedroom is a microcosm of the world. He introduces this idea through his reference to “th’ Indias of spice and mine,” which he suggests have been absorbed into his room and now “lie here with me.” The India of “spice” refers to East India, whereas the India of “mine” (i.e., gold) refers to the West Indies. Both regions represented important trade interests for England, and in Donne’s own lifetime the British Crown would make moves to occupy these territories and so begin to amass its great empire. The speaker imaginatively annexes this burgeoning British Empire to his own bedroom kingdom.
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.
In lines 21–24, which open the third and final stanza, the speaker further develops the idea of his bedroom as a microcosm of the world. Specifically, he pursues the notion that his lover is a symbolic amalgamation of “all states” (that is, all nations), and that he is a similar amalgamation of “all princes.” As the prince of all nations, he is thus the ruler of all realms. The speaker’s metaphor here also has a subtle sexual innuendo, since he implies that he (figured as a prince) has the final authority over his lover’s body (figured as a nation or territory). In addition to this playful innuendo, the speaker also makes a more serious claim about the authority of the love he shares with his mistress. So infatuated is he that he claims the all-importance of their affection: “Nothing else is.” This claim leads the speaker to a theatrical metaphor in which he and his lover are the only things that are real. Everyone else merely attempts to “play” them. Likewise, all moral virtues (e.g., “honor”) and material luxury (e.g., “wealth”) are the counterfeit products of mimicry and alchemy.
FAQs
“You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.” Cohn: “I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it.” Jake: “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.”
What is the main idea of the sun rising poem? ›
The main themes of the poem "The Sun Rising" by John Donne include love, affection, commitment, passion, and intimacy. The poem explores the experience of love through metaphysical elements such as conversational phrasing, creative symbolism, and analysis of emotions.
What is the significance of The Sun Rising? ›
In this poem, Donne personifies the sun, treating it as a living, breathing being with whom he is in competition for his lover's attention. The speaker argues that the sun should not disturb his love and that their love is more important than any outside force.
What is the conclusion of the sun rising poem? ›
The final line contains a play on the Ptolemaic astronomical idea that the Earth was the center of the universe, with the Sun rotating around the Earth: “This bed thy center is, these walls, thy spheare.” Here Donne again gives ultimate universal importance to the lovers, making all the physical world around them ...
What is the main message of The Sun Also Rises? ›
What are the main themes in The Sun Also Rises? Masculinity and proving one's manhood in the after-effects of WWI when men were reduced to shivering in trenches is a main theme in the novel. The men seek to find what was lost in the war through performing stereotypical activities.
What is the extended metaphor in The Sun Rising? ›
In fact, love in the poem is so grand that the universe itself exists within the relationship between the two lovers. The speaker uses extended metaphor not only to compare his bed to an empire but also to annex (that is, to take in) all of the world's empires into his own bed.
What is the irony in The Sun Rising? ›
Quick answer: Donne uses repetition, personification, and irony in "The Sun Rising" to taunt the sun for waking up a pair of lovers all too soon. The speaker personifies the sun, calling it malevolent toward the lovers for waking them up. Ironically, the sun also illuminates the lovers and their love for each other.
How is The Sun Rising as a love poem? ›
In "The Sun Rising," the speaker wants to bend the rules of the universe. Rather than allowing the sun's "motions" across the sky to govern the way the speaker spends his time, the speaker challenges the sun's authority and claims that love gives him (the speaker) the power to stay in bed all day with his lover.
What is the symbol in the poem The Sun Rising? ›
The primary symbol in the poem is the sun, which the speaker addresses throughout. On the most basic level, the sun is symbolically associated with light and warmth, both of which are necessary for sustaining life.
What does the rising sun symbolize? ›
At school events, the Hinomaru was displayed alongside the rising sun flag. The symbol once thought by the Japanese to light the darkness of the world, became a symbol of darkness to the rest of Asia. In former Japanese-occupied countries, the rising sun flag symbolizes Japanese imperial aggression and war crimes.
Here we have two hyperboles appearing in quick succession: The very claim that the speaker can eclipse the sun with a wink is of course the first one. The proviso that he would have done just that but he does not want to lose sight of his lady love even for that one moment is yet another instance of exaggeration.
What is the main theme of The Sun Rising? ›
Power and Control: The poem explores the themes of power and control, and the tension between the desire for control and the recognition of the limits of human power. The speaker challenges the sun's authority over the world, suggesting that it is limited by their love.
What does the speaker claim at the end of the poem The Sun Rising? ›
He claims his lover eclipses the sun's beams and that the treasures of the world are with him in bed. The speaker asserts that his lover is every country and he is every king, and nothing else is real compared to their love.
What is the tone of the sun rising poem? ›
Like the speaker himself, the tone of “The Sun Rising” is joyfully arrogant. The speaker adopts this tone throughout the poem, initially with the stream of playful invective he directs at the sun, and later as he reimagines his bedroom as a microcosm of the whole world.
What are the last lines of The Sun Also Rises? ›
In the final lines of the novel, Brett tells Jake she thinks they could have had a wonderful time together. Jake replies, “Yes, isn't it pretty to think so?”
What does the last line of The sun also rise mean? ›
"The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway ends with the line "Isn't it pretty to think so?" which reflects ambiguity and uncertainty.
What are the first lines of The Sun Also Rises? ›
”One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever. . . . The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose. . . .
What are the Lost Generation quotes in The Sun Also Rises? ›
You are all a lost generation. He was not sure that there were any great moments. Things were not the same and now life only came in flashes. That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward.
