The Sun Rising

The speaker wants to bend the rules of the universe. Rather than allowing the sun's "motions" across the sky to govern the way the speaker spends his time, the speaker challenges the sun's authority and claims that love gives him (the speaker) the power to stay in bed all day with his lover. The Sun Rising Rhetorical Questions Apostrophe used to show writers power over the Sun. Speaks with disdain (contempt) Sun being APOSTROPHIZED and PERSONIFIED. Speaker chides (scolds) the sun. Busy old fool, unruly sun, The Sun The COMBINATION of apostrophe and a rhetorical Why dost thou thus, Speaker + Lover question allows the speaker to create a platform for Through windows, and through curtains call on us? himself to lecture the sun at length, with no Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run? scold Begins listing all the other things interruptions. hag the sun could be doing. The sun dictates the new Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide Apprentices Negative morning. Late school boys and sour prentices, Lower case indicates the speaker is more superior than Sassy Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride, the King. demanding Call country ants to harvest offices, → Alliteration; harsh shound climate Rhyming couplet: emphasises the relationship between Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, the speaker and the lover Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time. = A figure of speech: things are passing and unmaterial. His heavenly body can shadow the Sun. Blocking it’s rays. Worthy of high respect Thy beams, so reverend and strong “Why should you regard your rays as so strong and sacred?” Why shouldst thou think? People of Earth I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink, The narrator wants to shut the sun out of existence. He doesn’t want to wink, because he doesn’t want to lose But that I would not lose her sight so long; Are so bright; they sight of his beloved, even for the short duration of a wink. If her eyes have not blinded thine, could impress the sun Thus, he is forced to accept the presence of the rising sun. Look, and tomorrow late, tell me, Connection Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine Explanation below The Sun will find both these Indies in his metaphor Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me. bed, (because his Sweet-heart is both Compares Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday, spice and gold mine to him). He ELEVATES himself to a And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay. himself. King. metaphor The world Speaker She's all states, and all princes, I, ➔ nothing else exists while the two are together. Nothing else is. Their love Princes do but play us; compared to this, Magical Honour and wealth become meaningless; princes seem poor All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy. when compared to what they have. Thou, sun, art half as happy as we, The sun is employed by people/ the world revolves around In that the world's contracted thus. the lovers. alliteration Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be He thinks he is at the centre of the universe To warm the world, that's done in warming us. Sense of creates a cynical tone acceptance. Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere; Suggests that the narrator’s universe consists of two people and one room only — that bed is the centre of the universe, This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere. Metaphorically speaking that their lives are elevated (above others) and the walls of the room are its edge, and so when that room is warmed, the whole of the world is to them. First 3 lines… Establish the relationship and tension among the three entities of the poem: the speaker, his lover, and the sun. Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine: = East Indies for spices and the West Indies for gold. The speaker uses “thou” instead of “you” when referring to the sun. By calling the Sun “thou”, the speaker implies that the sun is an inferior being who owes the speaker respect and obedience. Where as “you” was more formal/ polite. Line means: “Tell me whether both the East and the West Indies, which are noted for their spices and mines respectively, be there where you (the sun) left them after the Sun has been trapped by the speaker’s lover’s eyes.” This suggests everything will run exactly as it’s supposed to whether they leave their bed or not. SYMBOLISM THE SUN The speaker of "The Sun Rising" addresses the poem to the sun, but the sun is more than an annoyance the speaker wants to banish. The sun represents immense, near divine power. And when the speaker overthrows the sun and turns it into his servant, he is upending the entire order of the universe. By addressing the poem to the sun, the speaker can rise to a near godlike position and stature in the universal hierarchy. EMPIRE The speaker of "The Sun Rising" is obsessed with carving an empire for himself. However, he refuses to leave his bed. By comparing himself to “all kings” and “all princes,” the speaker expands his power beyond that of any earthly ruler. The speaker demonstrates that he doesn’t need to get up in the morning to work his way into a position of power. The sun might as well sleep pin. He also demonstrates that he is even more powerful than the sun by stealing entire empires out from under its nose. STRUCTURE: Creates a sense of FORMALITY/ Predictable nature of the sun rising. • Heavily punctuated → creates pauses & stops to prolong his time with his lover. • Indented lines (lines away from margin) → Indicated the waves of his thoughts as he contemplates life & love. TONE: • Similar sentence length and rhyme scheme links to keeping the formality. • Lines follow specific rhythm → Relates to predictable nature of sun rising. Boastful and teasing tone with a slight sense of criticism towards the Sun. The tone of the poem is that of a natural speech mixed with emotions of anger, fascination, intrigue and most of all, love. The difference between personification and apostrophe is that personification gives human qualities to animals, objects, and ideas, while apostrophe has characters talking aloud to objects and ideas as if they were human.