The Sun Rising by John Donne (Poem, Summary, Paraphrase, Analysis & Questions)

 

The Sun Rising

by John Donne

(Poem, Summary, Paraphrase, Analysis & Questions) 

The Sun Rising

Busy old fool, unruly Sun,

Why dost thou thus,

Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?

Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?

Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide

Late schoolboys 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.

 

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.

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.

Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,

And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay."

 

She is all states, and all princes I;

Nothing else is.

Princes do but play us; compared to this,

All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.

Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,

In that the world's contracted thus;

Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be

To warm the world, that's done in warming us.

Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;

This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

 

Summary

 

Stanza 1 Summary:

The speaker begins by addressing the sun in a scolding tone, calling it a “busy old fool” and “unruly.” He is annoyed that the sun is shining through the window and disturbing him and his lover from their peaceful morning in bed. The speaker questions why lovers should be governed by the movement of the sun or the passing of time. He tells the sun to go bother people who are concerned with duties—like schoolboys, apprentices, huntsmen, and farmers—not those who are in love. He insists that love does not follow the rules of time or the seasons, which he calls the “rags of time.” Lovers are above such earthly measures.

 

Stanza 2 Summary:

Here, the speaker boasts that the sun's rays are not as powerful as they seem. He says that he could easily “eclipse and cloud” the sun by closing his eyes, but he doesn’t want to lose sight of his beloved even for a moment. He tells the sun that if it’s not already blinded by the beauty of her eyes, it should look closely and then report back. The sun might discover that the riches of the East and West Indies (spices and gold) are not out in the world anymore, but are instead present here in this very room. He claims that all the powerful rulers the sun saw yesterday are now replaced by the lovers lying together in bed.

 

Stanza 3 Summary:

In this final stanza, the speaker boldly declares that his lover is all the world’s kingdoms, and he himself is all its rulers. No other people or things really matter. Other rulers are just pretending to rule, and their honors and riches are just imitations compared to the reality of their love. He concedes that the sun may be happy because its job is now easier: the whole world is concentrated in their room. So by shining on them, it fulfills its purpose. The speaker concludes by saying this bed is now the center of the universe, and the walls around them are the sun’s new “sphere” (its orbit or domain).

 

Line-by-line Paraphrase

Stanza 1

1. Busy old fool, unruly Sun,

→ You meddlesome old fool, wild and disorderly sun,

 

2. Why dost thou thus,

→ Why are you behaving this way,

 

3. Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?

→ Shining through our windows and curtains, waking us up?

 

4. Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?

→ Must lovers’ lives and moments be ruled by your schedule?

 

5. Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide

→ You rude, nitpicking nuisance, go scold

 

6. Late schoolboys and sour ’prentices,

→ Students who are late for school and grumpy apprentices,

 

7. Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,

→ Go tell the royal hunters it’s time for the king’s ride,

 

8. Call country ants to harvest offices;

→ Wake up hardworking country folk to go gather the harvest;

 

9. Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,

→ Love doesn’t care about seasons or weather,

 

10. Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

→ Nor hours, days, or months, which are just scraps of time to us.

 

Stanza 2

11. Thy beams, so reverend and strong

→ Your sunlight, though impressive and powerful,

 

12. Why shouldst thou think?

→ Why do you think

 

13. I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,

→ I couldn’t block your light just by closing my eyes?

 

14. But that I would not lose her sight so long:

→ But I won’t, because I don’t want to stop looking at her even for a moment.

 

15. If her eyes have not blinded thine,

→ If her eyes haven’t already dazzled and blinded you,

 

16. Look, and tomorrow late tell me,

→ Look at her now and tell me tomorrow—

 

17. Whether both th’ Indias of spice and mine

→ Whether the East (India of spices) and the West Indies (India of gold and mines)

 

18. Be where thou left’st them, or lie here with me.

→ Are still where they used to be—or are now here in bed with me.

 

19. Ask for those kings whom thou saw’st yesterday,

→ Look for those powerful rulers you saw yesterday,

 

20. And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.

→ And you’ll hear, “They’re all here—lying in this one bed.”

 

Stanza 3

21. She is all states, and all princes I;

→ She represents all the world’s countries, and I represent all its rulers;

 

22. Nothing else is.

→ Nothing else exists or matters.

 

23. Princes do but play us; compared to this,

→ Real kings only imitate what we have; compared to our love,

 

24. All honour’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.

→ All honor is fake, and all riches are illusions.

 

25. Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,

→ You, Sun, are only half as happy as we are,

 

26. In that the world’s contracted thus;

→ Because the entire world has shrunk down to this room.

 

27. Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be

→ You’re old and need an easier job, and since your job is

 

28. To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.

→ To warm the world, you’ve already done that by shining on us.

 

29. Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;

→ Just shine on us, and it’s like you’re shining on the whole world.

 

30. This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

→ This bed is your new center, and these walls are your whole universe.

 

Analysis in Detail

Tone and Mood

The tone of the poem is playful, confident, and somewhat defiant. The speaker talks directly to the sun with a mix of irritation and mockery, treating the sun almost like a meddlesome child or an annoying servant. Despite this seemingly informal and even cheeky attitude, there is an underlying intensity in how the speaker expresses the power of love.

The mood is intimate and romantic, set in a private bedroom where two lovers are lost in their own world, completely detached from the outside reality marked by time and duty.

 

Theme of Love’s Supremacy

A central theme is the supremacy of love over time and the external world. The speaker challenges the sun’s authority, which symbolizes time, routine, and worldly order. While the sun marks hours, seasons, and governs human activities like work and royal ceremonies, the speaker insists that love is beyond all these external forces.

Love creates its own timeless realm where hours, days, months, and seasons don’t apply. The lovers live in a microcosm where the usual rules don’t matter. This elevates love from a mere feeling to a cosmic force that redefines reality.

 

The Sun as a Symbol

The sun here symbolizes time, external reality, and social order. It is “busy” and “unruly,” interrupting the lovers’ private time, reminding them of the mundane world outside. The speaker dismisses the sun’s importance and mocks it as a “pedantic wretch” because it enforces the discipline of time and work, which is irrelevant to the lovers’ world.

Later, the sun’s rays are challenged by the power of the lover’s eyes — suggesting that the lovers’ personal world can overshadow the sun’s natural influence. The speaker imagines that the wealth of distant lands and the authority of kings are all present within the lovers’ bed, making the sun’s vast domain seem small by comparison.

 

Conceit and Metaphysical Elements

Donne was a metaphysical poet, known for his complex and imaginative metaphors (conceits), and this poem is a classic example.

The entire bedroom becomes a universe with the lovers’ bed as the center of the cosmos. The walls of the room form the “sphere” or the orbit in which the sun now moves. This hyperbole emphasizes how love reshapes reality.

The comparison of the lovers to “all states” and “all princes” asserts that their relationship contains the entire world’s power and glory. This conceit elevates their love to the status of universal sovereignty.

 

Power Dynamics

The poem explores a reversal of traditional power. Usually, the sun and time command human behavior. But here, the speaker challenges and almost dominates the sun, asserting the power of love and the lovers’ own reality over natural and social laws.

The speaker’s tone is commanding; he orders the sun to go attend to less important people and duties. He implies that lovers have a power that kings and laborers lack.

 

Imagery

Donne uses strong visual imagery to contrast the sun’s physical power and the emotional/spiritual power of the lovers:

The sun’s “beams” are described as “reverend and strong,” but the speaker claims he could eclipse them with a wink, highlighting the intimacy and dominance of personal love over distant physical phenomena.

The mention of “Indias of spice and mine” evokes images of exotic wealth, suggesting that the riches the sun sees in the world are now confined to the lovers’ room.

 

Philosophical Underpinning

At a deeper level, the poem expresses a philosophy of love as an eternal, self-contained universe. This contrasts with the transient and external universe regulated by the sun.

It reflects a metaphysical idea that personal experience (here, love) can redefine reality, making the outside world less significant or even irrelevant.

 

Conclusion

“The Sun Rising” celebrates the transformative power of love, which can suspend time and social obligations and turn a private moment into the entire universe. The speaker’s confident and witty argument elevates the lovers’ bed to a cosmic center, challenging the sun’s traditional authority.

The poem blends romantic passion with intellectual wit, typical of metaphysical poetry, showing love as both an emotional experience and a powerful force that reshapes the cosmos.

 

Possible Exam Questions

Who is the speaker addressing in the poem, and why is he annoyed?

 

What reasons does the speaker give for telling the sun to go bother other people?

 

How does the speaker describe the power of love in relation to time and seasons?

 

What does the speaker mean when he says, “She is all states, and all princes I”?

 

How does the speaker portray the sun’s role at the end of the poem?

 

Explain the significance of the sun as a symbol in the poem.

 

What is the tone of the poem, and how does it affect the overall meaning?

 

Describe the conceit of the universe in the poem.

 

How does the speaker view the relationship between love and the outside world?

 

What literary devices does Donne use to convey the intensity of the speaker’s love?

 

Discuss how John Donne challenges the authority of the sun in “The Sun Rising.” What does this reveal about the speaker’s view of love and time?

 

Analyze the metaphysical conceits in “The Sun Rising” and explain how they contribute to the poem’s theme.

 

How does the poem “The Sun Rising” reflect the characteristics of metaphysical poetry?

 

Explore the theme of love as a self-contained universe in “The Sun Rising.” How does Donne use imagery and language to express this idea?

 

Compare and contrast the roles of the sun and the lovers in the poem. How does Donne use this contrast to emphasize the power of love?

 

Imagine you are the sun in the poem. Write a brief response to the speaker’s complaints.

 

How might the poem be different if it were written from the sun’s perspective?

 

Discuss how the poem’s message about love and time is still relevant today.