Analysis of The Sun Rising
Form
Three stanzas, each ten lines long, make this an unusual aubade (a dawn love poem). With irregular
line length and regular rhyme scheme of abbacdcdee it is a bit of a hybrid. The first four lines build
up the argument, sonnet-like, the next four consolidate and the final couplet concludes. The meter
(metre) is also varied, lines having anywhere from four to six beats, iambs mixing with anapaest and
spondee to produce a stuttering uncertain rhythm.
Syntax
Short, sharp clauses, longer sentences and plenty of punctuation bring energy and emotion to the
speaker's voice, and help deliver the arguments and images in a dramatic, depthful manner. Take
the final couplet in the third stanza:
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy centre is, these walls, thy sphere.
Simplicity itself, with pauses that allow the reader to take in the conclusion, yet, typically of Donne,
he throws in an image to catch us off guard - the bed is rectangular, the room likewise, but sphere
suggests a spherical shell, one in which a celestial body might orbit in a fixed relationship.
Tone
The speaker is initially affronted by the presence of the sun and wastes no time in berating the
intrusion, questioning its appearance at a time when love is the priority, and love is not to be
influenced or regulated by the course of a pedant. You can picture the lovers being disturbed by
bright sunshine streaming in at dawn - the equivalent of someone shouting. All they want to do is
continue their sleep. Who wouldn't be annoyed?
The speaker's tone does shift as the poem progresses. In the second stanza all the heat has
dissipated and there is a more thoughtful approach as the speaker attempts to persuade the sun that
his lover has the power to blind him. In the end the speaker suggests that the lover's bed and room
is a microcosm of the solar system, so the sun is invited to revolve around them.
Further Analysis - First Stanza
Lines 1-4
This poem begins with insults. The sun is called an old fool, which is quite controversial because
we're talking about the giant star that keeps everyone and everything alive on the planet, right? The
sun can never be unruly, surely? Donne personifies the sun in order to have a go at it. The speaker
is saying : Get out of my life! Love is not under your control!!
thou - you
thus - in this way
Lines 5 - 8
The insults continue. You can picture the lovers being rudely awakened by the strong rays and
wanting the sun to go elsewhere. But the emphasis here is on belittling - the sun is told to go and call
on people arguably less important - boys late for school, resentful apprentices and farm workers.
chide - reprimand
prentices - apprentices
offices - duties
Lines 9-10
The end couplet, fully rhymed, affirms that love is beyond weather, place and time of year. It never
changes, is unaffected by the divisions of the clock.
all alike - the same at all times
clime - a region known for particular weather
rags - fragments
