The Sun Rising: John Donne
The Sun Rising: John Donne
John Donne’s 'The Sun Rising' is a magnificent metaphysical lyric that brilliantly turns traditional poetic conventions upside down by commanding, mocking, and ultimately subduing the sun. Written during the early seventeenth century, this poem showcases Donne’s unique ability to blend intense personal emotion with sharp wit, transforming a simple morning awakening into a triumphant celebration of absolute love over the entire physical universe.
TEXT:
The Sun Rising: John Donne
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 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.
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'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.
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.
Glossary & Notes:
Busy old fool, unruly sun: An irreverent opening address that strips the cosmic body of its traditional divine or majestic status, treating it like an annoying intruder.
Saucy pedantic wretch: An insult describing the sun as impertinent and overly fixated on rules, schedules, and routine duties.
Late school boys and sour prentices: Ordinary working youths and apprentices whom the sun normally wakes up, contrasting with the elevated status of the lovers.
The rags of time: A striking metaphor describing conventional measurements of duration (hours, days, months) as worthless, tattered remnants that have no power over timeless love.
Eclipse and cloud them with a wink: The speaker's arrogant boast that he could easily block out the sun’s powerful rays simply by closing his eyes.
Both th' Indias of spice and mine: A reference to the wealthy East and West Indies of the colonial era; the speaker claims that all global riches are concentrated in his lover’s eyes.
All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy: A declaration that real-world honors are mere theatrical imitations and material wealth is fake (alchemy), because true value exists only in their bed.
World's contracted thus: The concept of the micro-universe; the entire physical globe has shrunk down into the boundaries of their shared room.
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere: A geocentric astronomical metaphor where the lovers' bed becomes the center of the universe, reducing the sun to a mere servant orbiting them.
