Donne: The Sun Rising – A Reading and Analysis

"The Sun Rising" by John Donne. Reading and analysis

A stanza-by-stanza analysis of John Donne's "The Sun Rising" (1633), revealing how a 400-year-old poem about telling the sun to go away can still make us smile today. This close ...reading explores Donne's playful wit, his celebration of love, and his brilliant use of imagery.

Working through the poem section by section, I examine how Donne contrasts the macrocosm (the vast world, the sun traveling through space) with the microcosm (the intimate world of two lovers in bed). The analysis shows how the poem shifts from mild irritation at being woken up to a generous invitation for the sun to shine on the lovers - because their world of love contains all the riches and kingdoms of the earth.

What's covered:

Imagery analysis: sun, lovers, windows, treasures of the East and West Indies
Understanding 17th-century language and inverted word order
The balance of opposites: love vs time, macrocosm vs microcosm
Donne's humor and why it still feels fresh and relatable
The poem's progression from complaint to celebration

Who it's for:

For students studying metaphysical poetry, A-Level/university literature courses, or anyone who wants to discover how accessible and enjoyable Renaissance poetry can be.


0:00 Intro
0:12 Lines 1-4: Reading
0:24 Lines 1-4: Language
0:48 Imagery: sun, fool, windows, curtains, lovers
1:16 The narrator
1:56 Putting the images together to create a picture
2:45 Donne's sense of humour
3:28 Lines 5-10: Reading
3:58 Lines 5-10: Language
4:11 Imagery: schoolboys, apprentices, etc.
4:31 Understanding the images
5:05 A balance of opposites: Love and time
5:30 Lines 11-14: Reading
5:44 Lines 11-14: Language
6:03 Donne's humour
6:21 Lines 15-20: Reading
6:45 Lines 15-20: Language
7:00 Imagery: The sun as an object in space
7:23 The poet asks the sun if the rest of the world is in bed with him.
7:45 Since he is in love he thinks all the treasures of the world are in bed with him!
7:59 The macrocosm and the microcosm
8:30 Lines 21-4: Reading
8:47: Lines 21-4: Language
9:21 These lines develop the idea that all the treasures of the world are in bed with him
9:33 Lines 25-30: Reading
9:56 Lines 25-30: Language
10:06 The lovers are happier than the sun
10:24 Donne invites the sun in to join him and his lover!
10:40 At first Donne was irritated with the sun shining through his window. But now he feels he is so happy being in love he can afford to be generous, and he invites the sun in, to join him and his lover!

An analysis of the imagery and development of ideas in John Donne's poem. If your main interest is poetry you can subscribe to the "Ano sensei! Poetry" channel to get more focused content.


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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.Show More