Critical assessment of the poem ‘The Sun Rising’ by John Donne Essay Example

centre is, these walls, thy sphere. " After the experience of such a great love, everything pales into insignificance for the poet.

The tone of the poem is irreverent and insolent, and exudes happiness and confidence. In the first stanza, the great Phoebas, classical ruler of the heavens, is being chided and ridiculed as a "busy old fool", a "saucy pedantic wretch" and for being "unruly", and is angrily told that his services are not required. It is clear that this anger is tongue-in-cheek, however, by the light-hearted descriptions of the Sun: its desire to shine sunbeams through the curtains into the bedroom reveal the Sun's "saucy" voyeurism, and its regularity in time-keeping is "pedantic".

The poet's dismay at being disturbed from such contented slumbers is no more than playful insolence. In the second and third stanzas, this insolence develops into a certain arrogance and confidence in the power of the love between the poet and his lover, but the playful, trivial overtone remains, as if acknowledging that, in questioning the power of the Sun and all the kingdoms of the Earth, the poet is taking on quite a force. The imagery of the Indias and all the kings lying in the one bed increases this sense of playfulness.

Nevertheless, this love is shown to be quite special: "Thou, sun, art half as happy as we. " The assertion that the Sun actually shines from the lovers' bed, and not from somewhere in the heavens, is remarkably arrogant, though again somewhat jocular. The vast imagery adopted throughout is a measure of the poet's awe and amazement at such a powerful bond of love. The woman lying in bed

beside him, for whom this poem is really destined, cannot help but feel flattered by such strong emotions.

The poem is, in fact, destined to the poet's lover, and by pretending to address the Sun and not the woman, Donne is declaring his love in a refreshing, and therefore more striking and flattering way. The originality of having the woman as an eavesdropper on the conversation between the poet and the great celestial power that is the Sun makes the flattery seem more honest. In addition, the poet is approaching the Sun from an entirely new direction: the lyrical, traditional Sun is a great being, worshipped by all for bringing light to the world and for being so powerful.

The cheeky challenge to this authority, mirrored by a challenge to all the kingdoms of the Earth, is entirely original and leaves the reader taken aback: this love must be quite something for the poet to feel himself the measure of the Sun, and to be ready to protect this love against such powerful opposition. Here, the woman to whom this poem is really addressed thinks is a man whose love is genuine and whose motives are noble; what's more, he has a sense of humour.

The jocular tone of the poem and its use of burlesque imagery was a refreshing change from the terribly serious, grandiose love poetry that characterised the seventeenth century. The poem, I am quite certain, would have been a complete hit with its destined reader; the poet's lover would be prey to the same surge of love and exuberant confidence as the poem exudes, and would be greatly amused by the poet's hints of

his own virility (more powerful than the Sun, the presence of all the Kings in the bed).

The extensive flattery would have been much appreciated, and the irreverent, joyful mood of the poem would coincide well with the lover's own mood. Moreover, its originality would make it more striking and memorable. Because it is successful with regards to its target audience, but also to the lay reader, the poem is shown to be a good one. Some people would be offended by the arrogance and insolence shown by the poet, but in general, it must be appreciated that the poem does not take itself seriously, and this is refreshing after so many weighty, and sometimes heavy-handed, love poems.