An Analysis of "The Sun Rising," by John Donne Essay example

The first ten lines of the poem describe a setting sun and establish the framework in which we are expected to view the monarchy’s fall. Detailing the “glorious” (1) sun’s “double brightness” (4) while he dips below the horizon, Philips portrays the sunset as something both beautiful and terrifying. As the sun “[p]uts on his highest looks in ‘s lowest state” (6), he compels observers to hate him while “ador[ing] his Fall” (8). This section not only characterizes the sun’s shining sunset as a response to his fated end, but evokes the idea of war with words such as “magazine” (as in a magazine of bullets) to refer to the sun’s light (1).

She also mixes her religious and classical influences into the piece. In line 6, she states that the “sun slumbers in the ocean’s arm” (Wheatley Line 6), as if the sun is a baby in its mothers arms. This symbolizes the sun as being dependent, but as we continue to read, the sun becomes independent from its mother. “Ador’d the God that whirls surrounding spheres/which first ordain’d that mighty Sol should reign” (Wheatley line 14-15). This states the sun being mighty and reigning over the land being God’s prince which can be inferred as Jesus. Upon reaching this point, one can see that the sun is no longer an infant and can conclude that the “ocean” is none other than the Virgin Mary. Wheatly being well versed in many religious studies and other languages, she embeds other religious influences in the piece as well. The “goddesses” like “Phoebus” is mentioned in the poem. Phoebus was another name for Apollo and the god Apollo was known to be very powerful. Apollo was not only the son of Zeus, but he was also an oracular God; meaning that he was prophetic of the future. On the other hand, Christian religion says God is the only one who knows what the future holds. Very interesting how Greek mythology and Christianity overlap and contradict each other. In line 2-3, for example it says, “To praise the monarch of the earth and skies, whose goodness and

His tone of annoyance is clearly seen throughout the poem, exemplified especially when the young man compares himself to the old man. He even goes so far as to refer to the way he would speed by the old man, both on the sidewalk and through life, as “the way/ the sun outstrips the stars,” ultimately revealing the arrogance of this youth (6-7). It is evident that he intends for the sun to represent him, while the stars reflect the old man. In this comparison, his arrogance and lack of self-awareness are revealed. Although it is true that the sun shines more brightly than different stars, in the end, it is just that—a star. While the other stars in the sky may not light up the Earth as much as the sun, their light is still shed upon the Earth, even after they die. The luminosity of the stars also reflects how the wisdom of elders remain, long after they pass away. Because of his ignorance, the speaker lets an opportunity to gain knowledge from the old man pass him by. Rushing through life, the youth never stops to ponder the fact that one day, he will end up like that old man. Through his use of symbolism, Rubin divulges his theme: in the end, everyone is the same, and

The second stanza creates a clear contrast between what each person receives in this relationship. When the speaker’s lover puts on their crown of wind-flowers, the only place it leads them is to the surging sea and blowing storms. This person is obviously getting the short end of the stick. Even though they are both receiving love, the effects of it are not always beneficial to both parties. In the relationship between these two people, one prospers while the other is left behind or led awry.

The speaker seen the cleaning lady in a different light, she was accepting of her and the beautiful person that she is, her job no longer defined her. In the last stanza the speaker says, “Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only the light that can shine out of life” (lines 34- 35). She is reminding her readers to keep an open mind. It is a lesson to learn to put aside social standards, and see the real beauty within each person, before casting judgment upon them.

This poem is full of beautiful energy of the natural world; from leaves and flowers to sunrises and sunsets, your head is full of golden images from beginning to end. Because he refers to nature as a her, you have an image of mother nature throughout the poem.

“Sunshine seemed like gold,” (line 4) and “Whole damn world’s turned cold,” (line 5). The poet

Then Swinburne writes, “But in the full face of the fire of day” (22) which changes the direction and again leads back to during the daytime that there is nothing he enjoys. In the fifth and six lines, Swinburne writes, “What place shall be for any starry light, What part of heaven in all the wide sun’s way?” (23-24) asking a very important rhetorical question. Again, he is reemphasizing that he enjoys nighttime but day time has nothing for him to enjoy. This question helps understand the rest of the poem. This question is not answered within the poem but what it asks is the main tone throughout the entire poem. The thought of heaven and sun is brought into the reader’s perspective. Throughout the poem, the tone is that of living life to its fullest and concentrating on enjoying life while on earth and not concentrating your time on what may happen in heaven after your time on earth. The idea of death is also brought into one’s mind, at some point in everyone’s life the thought of dying does come to mind but should not be the focus of your life, and for this reason enjoying both nighttime and day time is

The poem begins with two lines which are repeated throughout the poem which convey what the narrator is thinking, they represent the voice in

The poem begins with the poet noticing the beauty around her, the fall colors as the sun sets “Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, / Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue;” (5-6). The poet immediately relates the effects of nature’s beauty to her own spiritual beliefs. She wonders that if nature here on Earth is so magnificent, then Heaven must be more wonderful than ever imagined. She then views a stately oak tree and

The speaker doesn't want anything beyond the world that his lover represents. She is his world, she means everything to him. “and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you” This line has some personification, the speaker says “whatever a sun will always sing…” I am not quite sure what the speaker was literally trying to say but my guess is that he means their love will never die even after they are gone. “here is the deepest secret nobody knows 
here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud” By

By making many references to the Bible, John Donne's Holy Sonnets reveal his want to be accepted and forgiven by God. A fear of death without God's forgiveness of sins is conveyed in these sonnets. Donne expresses extreme anxiety and fright that Satan has taken over his soul and God won't forgive him for it or his sins. A central theme of healing and forgiveness imply that John Donne, however much he wrote about God and being holy, wasn't such a holy man all of the time and tried to make up for it in his writing.

The theme of new beginnings and the harness of the past in another natural setting is discussed again in the second stanza, but now with a focus on time. The visual image presented my the passage as the sun hesitating and losing its direction show allow the reader to observe the symbolism of the sun. The sun universally represents time, the rise and set of sun symbolizing the beginning and ending of each day, days leading into months, years, and lifetimes. The rise of the sun is a new beginning, but it "seems to hesitate," and "lose its/ incandescent aim." The new beginning brought on by the rising of the sun was held back and lost "in that second." Hope and the fresh start were halted by the sun, who was not ready to let time pass and continue. The passage concludes with an affirmation of the symbolism, that "the past is brighter yet" than the sun who could not pull the new start cleanly into the future.

Shakespeare uses two powerful metaphors in line five and in line six to compare the summer's imperfections to the perfection of the beloved. In line five he uses a metaphor "Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines" to describe that in the summer the sun gets to hot and this is yet another imperfection of a summer day which the beloved is superior to. Although some may compare there beloveds eyes with the glow or beauty of "the eye of heaven" here the speaker has chosen to claim the opposite saying that the sun is inferior to his beloved in that her eyes are more beautiful. In line six of the poem the idea of the sun being imperfect is further enhanced by phrase "gold complexion dimmed" this is implying that the sun is imperfect in that it is not always hot enough. Here the speaker implies that the beloved is flawless in that her complexion is never changed, remaining "gold" like. Nature that surrounds us is beautiful, the trees, ocean, and the wild life, and although the speaker makes a point to disfigure the view of nature the intention of the poet is to reinforce the beauty of the beloved.

John Donne John Donne had a rich life full of travel, women and religion. Donne was born in 1572 on Bread Street in London. The family was Roman Catholic which was dangerous during this time when Catholicism was being abolished and protestant was taking over. Donne’s farther was an iron monger who died in 1576. At 11 Donne and his younger brother went to university and studied there for three years then he went to Cambridge for a further three years.