Interesting Literature

A Short Analysis of John Donne’s ‘The Sun Rising’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Sun Rising’ (sometimes referred to with the original spelling, as ‘The Sunne Rising’) is one of John Donne’s most popular poems.

In this poem, Donne apostrophises (i.e. addresses in a rhetorical fashion) the sun, as it peeps through the curtains in the morning, disturbing him and his lover as they lounge around in bed. The poem is worthy of close analysis because of the refreshing directness of the language Donne uses.

‘The Sun Rising’: summary

Perhaps the best way to summarise Donne’s poem is by offering a paraphrase.

First, the opening stanza:

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.

‘Sun, why do you insist on peeping through windows and curtains like some old busybody, getting us out of bed like some unwanted visitor calling round? Go after the boys who are running late for school, and the apprentices who aren’t hurrying to get to work!

‘Go and do something useful, like telling the huntsman at the royal court that the king has decided to go out riding today, or tell the ants to go about their business. But love [i.e. what my lover and I were up to until you turned up] does not obey the hours of the day or seasons of the year: it transcends such things.’

In the second stanza, Donne gets personal:

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.

‘You with your strong sun’s rays, what are you thinking? I could get rid of your light in an instant, by simply closing my eyes – but I don’t want to because that would also deprive me of sight of my beloved. Have you been blinded by the beauty of her eyes yet?

‘If not, then look, and then tomorrow evening, come back and tell me whether the East Indies and West Indies – both prized for their spices and their precious minerals – are where you left them, or whether such treasures and gems lie here next to me, my beloved is such a wonderful treasure. Ask for the kings you saw yesterday, and you’ll find that all the royal splendour of the world has been lying here.’

In the third and final stanza, Donne homes in yet further on his beloved:

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.

‘My lover is all states and all princes of the world rolled into one – oh yes. Nothing else exists that is worth our attention. Princes are mere shadows of my beloved and me: next to our love, all honour is a sham, all wealth is like alchemy, a vain attempt to create riches from base metals.

‘And you, Sun, are only half as happy as we are, in that the world, your natural partner, is already promised to another (i.e. my beloved and I are the world, and sorry, Sun – we’re spoken for). You’re getting old, and since it’s your job to warm the world, you’ve done your job once you’ve warmed us, because, as I say, we are the world. Shine here, and you shine on everything (or everything that matters). This bed on which we lie is the centre of the world, and the walls of this bedroom are the edges of the world’s sphere.’

‘The Sun Rising’: analysis

The above paraphrase or summary of the content of ‘The Sun Rising’ is necessarily longer than the poem itself, which shows just how much Donne packs into a relatively short poem.

Like a much later poet, T. S. Eliot, a great admirer of Donne’s poetry, Donne can make a single image or phrase resonate with half a dozen meanings. But the central meaning of ‘The Sun Rising’ is similar to the meaning of ‘The Good-Morrow’ , another classic Donne poem: my beloved and I are so in love that the rest of the world is but a poor show compared with us.

It was Samuel Johnson who dubbed John Donne and his successors ‘Metaphysical poets’: poets who often use extended metaphors in their work, sometimes drawn from contemporary scientific and philosophical ideas, to explore familiar themes such as love.

And ‘The Sun Rising’ is a love poem, in which Donne praises his lover, claiming she outstrips all princes and kings in the world, and all the riches to be found in the East and West. (We discuss metaphysical poetry in more detail here .)

And Donne’s metaphors are clever. Look at the way he takes the idea of being blinded by staring at the sun and turns it on its head, saying that the sun itself may well be blinded by looking upon the eyes of his beloved – they’re that dazzling and beautiful.

It’s impossible to be blinded by beauty, of course, but the cleverness of the conceit transforms it from clichéd declaration of love (‘I’m blinded by your beauty’) into something more affecting because, as T. S. Eliot observed , thought and feeling were united in Donne’s poetry.

The rhythm of ‘The Sun Rising’ is jaunty and alive, suggesting Donne’s arrogant and self-confident challenge of the sun’s primacy and authority. But the rhymes are also a tour de force and worth analysing more closely. Look at the progress of the endings of these four successive lines:

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.

Although Donne is championing his beloved’s beauty, ‘me’ and ‘me’ are here rhymed, and even ‘mine’ is rhymed with ‘thine’, with the pun on ‘mine’ (diamond or gold mines, but given the fact that it’s sandwiched between ‘me’ and ‘me’, we cannot help but get a whiff of the possessive pronoun here) placing Donne at the centre of things.

If ‘The Sun Rising’ is a love poem that still resonates with us, it is not simply because of the refreshing detachment (Donne does not praise his beloved directly, but via the intrusive sun) but because Donne is happy to talk about himself at such length.

‘The Sun Rising’ invites close analysis because of such fine details of language and rhyme, and because the imagery is not simply the usual fare.

The extended metaphor with which Donne closes ‘The Sun Rising’ – he and his beloved are the whole world because nothing else matters to them as long as they’re in love, so the sun cannot be partnered with the world because Donne and his lover are the world – is unfolded deftly and to great effect.

Who hasn’t felt like that when in love? Arrogant, yes – but all too human. Donne’s honesty is in acknowledging this side to being in love, self-satisfaction and all.

About John Donne

John Donne (1572-1631) is one of the most important poets of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in English literature. In many ways, what is now known as metaphysical poetry began with Donne and his innovative use of imagery, particularly his fondness for extended metaphors and elaborate conceits which draw on what were, at the time, new scientific theories and discoveries.

His early poems, circulated in manuscript in the 1590s when he was still a young man in his twenties fresh out of university, are love poems which are disarmingly frank and direct both in what they show us (lovers together in bed, a man imploring his mistress to undress for him ), and in how they address us (‘Busy old fool, unruly sun’ is a refreshingly irreverent line after so many poems in praise of the sun’s life-giving light and warmth, while ‘For God’s sake hold your tongue’ was a daringly blunt way to get your reader’s attention in the age that gave us ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’).

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7 thoughts on “A Short Analysis of John Donne’s ‘The Sun Rising’”

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One of my alltime favorite poets and poems. Love this!

There is a play on changing thinking on cosmology too

I Die, and if I cannot be beleev’d, My deaths more certaine, as it is most sure… …And yet even there shall in my bosome pure, The shape of thy faire face ingraude be eyed. For that’s a relique, which I do reserve For the last traunces, my countentions threaten, Which midst thy rigour doth it selfe preserue. O woe’s the wight! That is by tempests beaten By night in unknown Seas, in danger rise For want of North, or haven to lose his life.

This is a poem written by John Donne and nobody knows this: Don Quixote I, 4, VII page 371-372. He wrote all the poems in the DQ..

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The Sun Rising Summary & Analysis by John Donne

  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
  • Poetic Devices
  • Vocabulary & References
  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
  • Line-by-Line Explanations

journey the sun is rising

"The Sun Rising" is a poem written by the English poet John Donne. Donne wrote a wide range of social satire, sermons, holy sonnets , elegies , and love poems throughout his lifetime, and he is perhaps best known for the similarities between his erotic poetry and his religious poetry. Much of his work, including "The Sun Rising," was published after his death in the 1633 collection Songs and Sonnets . In "The Sun Rising," the speaker orders the sun to warm his bed so that he and his lover can stay there all day instead of getting up to go to work. The poem's playful use of language and extended metaphor exemplifies Donne's style across his work, erotic and religious alike.

  • Read the full text of “The Sun Rising”

journey the sun is rising

The Full Text of “The Sun Rising”

1                Busy old fool, unruly sun,

2                Why dost thou thus,

3 Through windows, and through curtains call on us?

4 Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?

5                Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide

6                Late school boys and sour prentices,

7          Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,

8          Call country ants to harvest offices,

9 Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,

10 Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

11                Thy beams, so reverend and strong

12                Why shouldst thou think?

13 I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,

14 But that I would not lose her sight so long;

15                If her eyes have not blinded thine,

16                Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,

17          Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine

18          Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.

19 Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,

20 And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.

21                She's all states, and all princes, I,

22                Nothing else is.

23 Princes do but play us; compared to this,

24 All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.

25                Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,

26                In that the world's contracted thus.

27          Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be

28          To warm the world, that's done in warming us.

29 Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;

30 This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.

“The Sun Rising” Summary

“the sun rising” themes.

Theme The Authority of Love

The Authority of Love

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Theme Love as a Microcosm of the Universe

Love as a Microcosm of the Universe

Theme Love and Divinity

Love and Divinity

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “the sun rising”.

Busy old fool, unruly sun,                Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains call on us?

journey the sun is rising

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.

Lines 11-14

 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;

Lines 15-20

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.

Lines 21-22

She's all states, and all princes, I,                Nothing else is.

Lines 23-24

Princes do but play us; compared to this, All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.

Lines 25-28

 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.

Lines 29-30

Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere; This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.

“The Sun Rising” Symbols

Symbol The Sun

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

Symbol Empire

“The Sun Rising” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Personification.

  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Extended Metaphor

Alliteration, rhetorical question, “the sun rising” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Thou/thy/thine
  • Country ants
  • Rags of time
  • Th' Indias of spice and mine
  • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Sun Rising”

Rhyme scheme, “the sun rising” speaker, “the sun rising” setting, literary and historical context of “the sun rising”, more “the sun rising” resources, external resources.

Articles and Essays on Donne — See what some other scholars have had to say about Donne's work.

Digitized First Edition — See a digitized first edition of some of Donne's poetry, including "The Sun Rising."

"The Sun Rising" Read Aloud — Listen to a recording of renowned Shakespearean actor Richard Burton reading Donne's entire poem aloud.

Donne's Biography and Bibliography — Browse a short biography of Donne and a selected bibliography of his prose and poetry collections.

"In Our Time" Podcast Episode — Listen to an introduction to Donne and the other Metaphysical Poets from BBC's "In Our Time" podcast.

LitCharts on Other Poems by John Donne

A Hymn to God the Father

Air and Angels

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

A Valediction: Of Weeping

Elegy V: His Picture

Holy Sonnet 10: Death, be not proud

Holy Sonnet 14: Batter my heart, three-person'd God

Holy Sonnet 1: Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?

Holy Sonnet 6: This is my play's last scene

Holy Sonnet 7: At the round earth's imagined corners

Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness

No Man Is an Island

Song: Go and catch a falling star

The Apparition

The Canonization

The Good-Morrow

The Triple Fool

To His Mistress Going to Bed

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Your Horoscope This Week: March 3 to 9

T his first full week of March is relatively calm, allowing us to create structure in our lives with the help of the last quarter moon in Sagittarius . Many of us are seeking more adventure and stimulation in our lives, and having the week start off with the sun in Pisces and the moon in Sag provides us with the momentum and spontaneity to throw caution to the wind and simply enjoy the present moment . Just try not to go overboard in the process, or else you may do or say things you’ll later regret. 

Mercury, the Planet of Communication, spends its final stretch in Pisces this week, making our dream world and emotional sensitivity more pronounced. We may feel deeply sensitive and somewhat nostalgic as we approach the astro new year. It’s a good time to tend to old wounds and make resolutions to heal them so that we release the burdens we may have consciously or unconsciously held on to. Then once Mercury shifts into Aries on the 9th — for a two-month stay — we’ll feel fired up with drive and ambition, allowing us to strategically brainstorm what our next steps will be. 

Read your horoscopes for your Sun and Rising signs for the most in-depth forecast.

DashDividers_1_500x100

Aries Sun & Rising:

The week begins with the quarter moon in Sagittarius highlighting your sector of expansion and long journeys. When’s the last time you went on a trip, Aries? You may find it hard to focus on mundane matters under this lunar influence, so give into your decisions to go up, up, and away, be it through a literal vacation or by escaping into a new novel or foreign restaurant. 

The rest of the week has you focusing on clearing out spiritually stagnant debris that exists in your subconscious mind. Mercury spends its final six days in your sector of healing and spirituality, encouraging you to face your shadows head on, either through journaling, therapy, or some artistic medium. Then once Mercury enters your sign on the 9th you’ll be more mentally alert and self-aware, allowing you to make decisions with confidence and passion. 

Taurus Sun & Rising:

This first full week of March asks you to think about the people you’re collaborating with financially and spiritually, Taurus. Who have you been sharing your energy and resources with, and why? As Jupiter, the Planet of Luck, spends its final 12 weeks in your sign, you’re being encouraged to fine-tune your objectives and priorities, which may mean cutting off people who have been taking advantage of you. Use the quarter moon’s energy to have tough yet clarifying conversations if this applies to you. 

Mercury’s final six days in Pisces will help you communicate your thoughts and feelings in a way that feels welcoming and empathetic, particularly when it comes to your friends and online community. If you’ve been wanting to create a book club or join an online support group, you may feel called to do so this week. Once Mercury enters Aries on the 9th your sector of spirituality and solitude is activated, so you may find yourself being more of a recluse this weekend. 

Gemini Sun & Rising:

As the week begins, Gemini, you’re reflecting on your relationships and what’s working (or not working) within them. With your ruler Mercury remaining in Pisces until the 9th, your sector of career is activated, so you’ll particularly be focused on making adjustments to aspects of your professional journey that feel limiting or redundant. The key is to be intuitively led while making decisions, even if Mars, the Planet of Action, is in your fellow air sign of Aquarius and encouraging you to think logically. Find a balance between what your heart is saying and what your mind is thinking. 

This weekend, Mercury leaves Pisces and enters Aries for a two-month stay. You’ll feel more social, extraverted, flirtatious, and adventurous under this transit, as it’s activating your sector of friendship and social networks. If you’ve been meaning to step out of your comfort zone and meet new people, you have the green light to do so, especially this month because Mercury retrograde starts on April 1. Have fun, Gemini! 

Cancer Sun & Rising:

Cancer, as this week begins you’re thinking about your health and wellness journey. The quarter moon in Sag may have led to you having a wake-up call, and now you’re in the mood to better commit to a more holistic lifestyle, which means being more disciplined. Spend this week crafting a game plan or finding a workout buddy or accountability partner who will help you stay aligned with your lifestyle goals, without feeling overwhelmed. Celebrate the small wins, and remain consistent. 

You may find it easier to do on the 9th so once Mercury, the Planet of Communication, leaves Pisces and enters Aries for the next two months. While you sometimes can be put off by the aggressive and fiery vibes of Aries transits, this one in particular will help you boss up mentally and physically, by activating your warrior energy. Spend the weekend writing down key initiatives you’d like to achieve these next two months — dream big and take part in visualization exercises where you envision yourself already “there.” 

Leo Sun & Rising:

Leo, allow yourself to have more fun as the week begins. The quarter moon in Sag is activating your sector of fate, true love, and creativity, which may lead to you being too tough on yourself if you feel like you should be further ahead by now. But remember Leo, not only is time an illusion and all we have is the present moment, but even if we were to abide by “time,” the astro new year doesn’t begin until March 19th… So you’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be. Lighten up and laugh more! 

The above advice will be easier for you to follow starting on the 9th when Mercury, the Planet of Communication, enters your fellow fire sign of Aries for a two-month stay. This takes place in your sector of expansion and long journeys, making it a great time to travel or brainstorm places you’d like to visit between now and May. You may also feel ready to start a new course of study or pitch a proposal to a dream client. Go for it! 

Virgo Sun & Rising:

Virgo, you may be feeling restless as the week begins, due to the last quarter moon in Sag. Perhaps you haven’t achieved everything that’s on your to-do list (even though the month literally just began, so cut yourself some slack), or maybe some family drama is feeling overwhelming and you just want to hide out in your own cave and not come out until everything is resolved. The truth is, Virgo, even if you’re known as being the one with all the solutions, you don’t always have to be. Allow someone else to figure it out. 

With your planetary ruler Mercury spending its final six days in Pisces this week, relationships and romance are very much on your mind. If you’ve been wanting to express your true feelings to a crush or partner, or if you’ve been seeking greater clarity in a situationship, use the rest of Mercury’s transit through Pisces to initiate that conversation, while releasing the need to control the outcome of it. Then once Mercury shifts into Aries on the 9th for the next two months, your self-confidence will increase. 

Libra Sun & Rising:

Libra, what have you been keeping locked up within yourself, instead of bravely communicating? That’s the question the cosmos is asking of you as the week begins, due to the last quarter moon in Sagittarius activating your sector of communication. If you’ve been trying to keep the peace by suppressing your true feelings, you’ll suddenly feel like a volcano that’s about to erupt. It’s best to find healthy outlets for speaking your truth, even if it ruffles a few feathers. 

Mercury’s transit through Pisces up until the 9th can help soothe any nerves that you feel as you step into your power. Focus on mindful and therapeutic activities such as therapy, yoga, pilates, stretching, forest walks, and deep breathing. The more connected you are to the spiritual realm, the better your nervous system will feel. Then on the 9th, Mercury shifts into Aries and highlights your sector of marriage for the next two months. If you find yourself obsessively thinking about your crush or lover, chalk it up to Mercury in Aries. 

Scorpio Sun & Rising:

Scorpio, money is on your mind as the week begins. The quarter moon in Sag will make you very much aware of any unhealthy money habits you’ve built up these past few months or years, and while that may feel uncomfortable, it’s important for you to face these truths head on and courageously find a way to rectify these mishaps. Working with a financial coach, joining a well-vetted online program, or simply focusing on budgeting and reducing your expenses — or alternatively, increasing your revenue — are ideal ways to show the Universe you mean business. 

Mercury rounds out its stay in Pisces this week, in your sector of fate, true love, and creativity, making it a great time to go on dates or take yourself out on one. Let your softer, more sensitive, and sensual side emerge — you’ll magnetize the right connections and weed out the ones that aren’t a vibrational match. Life gets extra spicy starting on March 9th when Mercury enters your fellow Mars-ruled sign of Aries. During this two-month transit, you may have the best sex you’ve had so far this year, especially if you feel intellectually connected to the individual(s) in question. 

Sagittarius Sun & Rising:

Sag, the week begins with the quarter moon taking place in your sign, asking you to assess your identity and your priorities. You may have been putting too much on your plate this Pisces Season , and it might be challenging for you to stay focused and disciplined around this time. Instead of fighting it or being hard on yourself, do something active and energizing such as going for a walk, deep cleaning your home while dancing to your favorite music, or allowing yourself to scream into your pillow or out on your balcony. Releasing pent-up tension and stress will liberate you and allow you to think of constructive solutions moving forward. 

With Mercury still in Pisces until the 9th, don’t fight the urge to slow down and meditate, even if you’re feeling inspired by Mars’ current transit through Aquarius in your sector of communication. The cosmos wants you to tap into your values and roots during Mercury in Pisces, because once Mercury enters Aries on the 9th for the next two months, so much fun, distraction, and opportunities for creative bliss will come your way. The best way to make the most of this is to have a solid foundation. 

Capricorn Sun & Rising:

Capricorn, the week begins with the Sag quarter moon activating your sector of spirituality and closure. You may have thought you had moved on from a past hurt or trauma, but suddenly you’ll feel it creeping up on you, demanding to be felt. The key is to get curious about what these lingering feelings are trying to teach you, rather than attempting to ignore, deny, shame, or suppress them. This is a good time to journal your feelings or speak openly with a therapist or trusted friend. 

Mercury’s final stretch through Pisces continues to stimulate your communication sector, helping you express your creativity in a freely-flowing way. You’d benefit from making art for the sake of it this week, rather than immediately thinking of ways to monetize your craft or passion. 

Once Mercury enters Aries on the 9th, there’s a likelihood that you’ll start to feel restless, particularly when it comes to your domestic sector. Many changes are occurring in this realm of your life, and your mission is to try not to control everything (even if it’s easier said than done). Trust that the Universe knows what it’s doing. 

Aquarius Sun & Rising:

The quarter moon in Sag activates your sector of friendship as the week begins, Aquarius. This allows you to speak up if you’ve felt undermined, disrespected, or taken advantage of in any way, be it in real life or digitally. Your mission is to not let the fiery nature of this lunation cause you to burn bridges instead of having respectful and reciprocal conversations. If you find yourself getting too worked up or heated at the start of the week, take some time apart from the individual(s) in question to regroup. Mercury’s continued transit through Pisces helps you approach money matters from a heart-centered place during this first full week of March . Speaking to yourself with greater compassion regarding past or current financial mishaps will help you stay positive and flexible, which is necessary during this phase of your life. 

Then on the 9th, Mercury enters Aries for the next two months and activates your communication sector. You’ll feel more optimistic and confident under this mercurial transit, making it easier to take leaps of faith without second-guessing yourself. 

Pisces Sun & Rising:

Pisces, the Sag quarter moon at the start of the week may have you feeling mentally and physically exhausted. Make sure to hydrate and find ways to create better boundaries between your work and personal life, because chances are you’ve been overextending yourself in your career in your attempts to level-up. It’s only when you feel spiritually and emotionally centered that you’ll truly thrive in your career, so don’t overdo it. 

Mercury’s final six days through your sign helps you tap into meditative techniques for dealing with stress and uncertainty. But at the same time, it could lead to you getting caught up in illusions rather than facing reality head on. Once Mercury enters Aries on the 9th, your money sector is activated for the next two months and you’ll start to think in a more Aries-like manner. It’s time to boss up and not be afraid of your own power, Pisces. It is your season, after all… 

Your Horoscope This Week: March 3 to 9

The Colorado Sun

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Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state.

What’s Working: State economy grew as Coloradans consumed in 2023. That could change with rising property values.

journey the sun is rising

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journey the sun is rising

Tamara Chuang | Business/Technology Reporter

journey the sun is rising

A decline in new business formations in Colorado in the fourth quarter from a year earlier probably has less to do with any economic uncertainty than with something much more tangible: A fee reduction that ended in May.

That’s what Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold blamed for the 16% decline in new business filings last quarter. A year earlier, new companies paid just $1 to file. Now it’s back to $50. But with 40,987 filing to start a new business, that’s well above the average for the typically slower fourth quarter, at least before the pandemic. The state also had the most companies in good standing in December, at nearly 1 million and up 7% year over year.

That means, Griswold said during a news conference this week, “Colorado businesses are staying in business thanks to the strength of the state’s overall economy.”

But how strong is Colorado’s economy?

It was just better than the expected, said economists at University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business. They’d already forecast a slowdown, which means we’re still growing but not as much as past years.

Last year, consumer spending, which is about 70% of what goes into measuring economic activity, was still up in Colorado. Folks kept spending money eating out with sales at food services and drinking places up 6.6% annually, as well as retail sales, which were up 1.7%. But that was lower than the growth in 2022, at 13.9% and 19.9% respectively, according to the Quarterly Business & Economic Indicators report .

journey the sun is rising

Spending contributed to the state’s yearlong GDP growth of 2.5%, “a far cry from any sort of recession that many had forecasted at the end of 2022,” said Richard L. Wobbekind, faculty director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division.

“We had thought, a year ago, that when savings were slowing down, jobs were going to be slowing down more than they did. We thought that would mean less growth in personal income and less capabilities of buying stuff,” Wobbekind said. “And lo and behold, even with a higher interest rate environment, households continue to consume. They used up a lot of their excess savings they had accumulated in the past but they got further gains in income from more jobs and wage increases that we hadn’t seen in a while.”

journey the sun is rising

Think of what consumers spent money on in 2023.

Travel picked back up and took off last year with Denver International Airport reporting its biggest year in history with 70 million passengers , a 12.3% increase from the prior year. The airport also had the highest number of international travelers, at 4 million, which was up 21.5% from 2022. Colorado Springs Airport also hit a record last year with 1.2 million travelers boarding at the airport, a 10% increase from 2022.

Some concertgoers spent thousands of dollars to see Taylor Swift at Empower Field at Mile High, plus an estimated $140 million in hotels, food and body glitter locally.

Shoppers spent heavily during the Christmas holidays last year, helping boost revenues for Amazon , Walmart and other big retailers to record levels . Colorado’s sales tax receipts were up 2.8% for the 12-month trailing average.

But then think about what else happened: inflation.

journey the sun is rising

Something’s different in Colorado

Even though spending was up in the state with the growing GDP, Colorado sales tax receipts increased just 2.8%, or less than the annual rate of inflation of 5.2% last year in the Denver area. It’s also less than January’s 3.5% inflation rate, the lowest since mid-2021. Annual wages per employee rose 4.9% in the year.

“At the state level, we did see a slowing of retail activity sooner than we did nationally,” said Brian Lewandowski, the research division’s executive director. “It begs the question of if the already higher cost of living that Colorado has and the higher the national inflation rates are weighing more on the Colorado consumer? I think that could be a very logical conclusion.”

journey the sun is rising

But there’s more for 2024.

Property taxes continue to head up as home-sales prices have risen across the state. The Colorado Assessors’ Association compiled assessor data from around the state to come up with a county-by-county look at how property values increased and have contributed to double-digit rate increases on tax bills. They don’t do this every year but did so last year because the increase in market values was higher than normal, said Corbin Sakdol, CAA’s executive director.

Here’s a look by county of the higher rate of assessed values:

But, he added, that doesn’t mean property taxes are rising at the same rate.

“With the market values going up so much in Colorado, some taxing districts lowered their mill levies, some did not, which would equate to higher taxes,” he said in an email.

Residential property values increased at least 15%, and the lowest hike was in Baca County. Western Slope counties like Grand, Eagle and Summit are seeing increases in the 60% range. Pitkin County, home of Aspen, is at 92%.

“Whether you’re renting or you own properties, most of the time the people residing in those properties are the ones really paying that bill. And that means they’ll have to divert some disposable personal income from what they would normally spend on goods and services to pay the property tax,” Lewandowski said. “It’s another unique headwind in Colorado, but it hasn’t really even fully been felt yet in the state. I think it could slow down retail further.”

journey the sun is rising

➔ Housing tax and heating rebate offers up to $1,112. Apply for the Colorado Property Tax, Rent, Heat Credit Rebate by April 15 to get some money back from paying property taxes, rent and/or heating bills. This rebate is only offered to residents who earn less than $18,026 (or $24,345 for married couples) and are 65 and older or have a disability. This is also open to folks who don’t file tax returns. The rebate has been paid to about 15,000 Coloradans since 2019, according to the Department of Revenue. >> Details

Sun economy stories you may have missed

journey the sun is rising

➔ Colorado’s largest private sector union violated federal labor law in treatment of its internal staff, judge rules. Former UFCW Local 7 employees interviewed by The Colorado Sun pointed the blame at union President Kim Cordova, who has been at the helm since 2010. >> Read story

➔ Adams County’s oil and gas rules are among Colorado’s strictest — and the industry is still rapidly growing. Since 2017, oil production has grown 15-fold as the county became Colorado’s second-biggest producer churning out 12.8 million barrels in 2023. >> Read story

➔ Federal government sues to block merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, saying it could push prices higher. The Federal Trade Commission argued the deal would eliminate competition and hurt consumers. >> Read story

journey the sun is rising

➔ Denver closing four shelters, scaling back migrant services to save $60M. As the hotel shelters close, the city says it will “double down” on case management by coordinating with nonprofits that are connecting migrants to jobs and housing >> Read story

➔ Colorado has allocated millions of dollars this year to governments and housing organizations planning to build affordable units. Funds from Proposition 123, the 2022 ballot measure aiming to increase affordable housing stock in Colorado, are helping to create more of these units. >> Read story

journey the sun is rising

➔ Colorado conservatives want a property tax cap. The state’s bipartisan tax commission hates the idea. Policymakers are trying to mitigate sticker shock for homeowners without harming public services like schools and emergency responders . >> Read story

Other working bits

journey the sun is rising

➔ Denver apartment rents were flat in February. They grew just 0.2% from a year ago, according to ApartmentList. “On an annualized basis, rent growth remains negative at minus 1%, meaning that on average, new leases remain marginally cheaper than they were one year ago. But we expect the coming months to bring steady, moderate rent growth as housing demand improves but is partially offset by new construction,” a spokesperson said.

By the numbers: One-bedroom apartments are renting for a median $1,534, while two bedrooms are $1.911. The citywide vacancy rate is up 7.7% from a year ago. >> Report

➔ Bill to provide $5 million to convert empty offices into residential gets debated. Growing concerns that the current 30% office vacancy rate in downtown Denver isn’t improving spurred lawmakers, affordable-housing advocates and conservationists to voice support for House Bill 1125 during a finance committee hearing Thursday.

The bill would create a pilot program offering $5 million in tax credits a year to a few developers who rise up to the expensive conversion. Skeptics wondered why such a small sum would change anything — wouldn’t the market be enough incentive, they asked? Supporters want to increase it to $25 million, or even $50 million.

A representative from the state Office of Economic Development & International Trade, which would oversee the program, said it would be a pilot to determine the potential. They’d also reject developers who’d build out the project anyway, sans incentive. >> House Bill 1125

journey the sun is rising

➔ State gives $5,000 to small businesses here and there. The state’s economic development office awarded $900,000 to 180 recipients who participated in its Small Business Accelerated Growth program. Of those, 67 were digital marketing grants and 113 were Access to Capital grants of $5,000 each. Recipients hail from 36 counties around the state. Last year, 56 small businesses received the same grants. The program was created by Senate Bill 241 to offer business development support for companies with fewer than 20 employees. >> More info

  • How big is small business in Colorado? They account for 99.5% of all Colorado businesses and 47% of employees in the state, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Last year, Colorado led the nation with 115% annual increase in new business applications as of December, said the SBA. That filing fee discount was a likely contributor. >> See the map

➔ Colorado’s paid-leave program gets noticed. The U.S. Department of Labor blogged about it. >> Read

  Get What’s Working in your inbox:  It’s free! Sign up for own copy !

Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. Remember to check out The Sun’s daily coverage online . As always, share your 2 cents on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww . ~ tamara

Miss a column? Catch up:

  • Techstars alumni, mentors consider what’s next for the Boulder/Denver startup community
  • Colorado’s current economy and a peek into the future
  • Colorado ranked as one of the top states for protecting consumer data, but it still gets a C+
  • How the pandemic helped provide permanent funding for rural Colorado’s economic development
  • Labor union growth flat in U.S. but not in Colorado
  • Colorado added just 300 jobs in December, as unemployment rate rose to 3.4%
  • Colorado’s arts budget hasn’t budged in 10 years. This year, it could more than double.

What’s Working is a Colorado Sun column about surviving in today’s economy. Email [email protected] with stories, tips or questions. Read the archive , ask a question at cosun.co/heyww and don’t miss the next one by signing up at coloradosun.com/getww .

Support this free newsletter and become a Colorado Sun member: coloradosun.com/join

Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Tamara Chuang Business & Technology Reporter

Tamara Chuang writes about Colorado business and the local economy for The Colorado Sun, which she cofounded in 2018 with a mission to make sure quality local journalism is a sustainable business. Her focus on the economy during the pandemic... More by Tamara Chuang

Smart English Notes

The Sunne Rising By John Donne Summary, Analysis and Questions

Table of Contents

The Sunne Rising BY John Donne

Introduction

The Sun Rising is one of Donne’s most noted love poem. It is an example of the aubade a “DAWN POEM”. Let us begin with a brief outline of the poem.

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The poet and his beloved are still in bed as the sun rises in the morning. The poet playfully chides the sun nor to disturb him and his mistress and to attend to other matters. The poet mocks at the sun for imagining itself to be all-powerful, for he (the poet) can shut out its beams by closing his eyes. But he says he shall not do so, lest he loses sight of his beloved even for an instant. Continuing his impertinent tone, he tells the sun that he and his beloved constitute the whole world and therefore, if the sun needs a little rest from his labour, it can do its duty of warming the world by simply circling around the ‘two of them – for they are the whole world.

The poem is built around a few hyperbolic assertion .

  • 1. The sun has an observant personality of an old busybody.
  • 2. Love, as the poet asserts, “no season knows, nor clime/ Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time”;
  • 3. The speaker’s love affair is so important to the universe that kings and princes simply copy it. The world is contained within their bedroom.

Of course, these three assertions represent, describe a state of feeling.

  • The bedroom seems to enclose all the matters in the world.
  • Love has been disturbed by an intruder – the rising sun.
  • The pretention that each of these subjective state of feeling is an objective truth

The Sun Rising Summary

This poem is among the most appealing and successful metaphysical love poems of Donne.”The Sun Rising” is built around a few hyperbolic propositions—firstly, that the sun is personified and has the watchful personality of an old busybody; secondly, that love, as the speaker puts it, ―no season knows, nor clime, / Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time”; third, that the speaker’s love affair is so important to the universe that kings and princes simply copy it, that the world is literally contained within their room.

Accordingly, Donne endows his speaker with language implying that what goes on in his head is primary over the world outside it; for instance, in the second stanza, the speaker tells the sun that it is not so powerful, since the speaker can cause an eclipse simply by closing his eyes.

This kind of indifferent, joyful arrogance is perfectly tuned to the consciousness of a new lover, and the speaker appropriately claims to have all the world‘s riches in his bed (India, he says, is not where the sun left it; it is in bed with him). As the speaker says in a purely fantastic way, the lovers become the centre of the universe and more powerful than the sun.

In stanza two, the poet asks the sun why he thinks that his beams are so powerful that the poet can blot them out by simply shutting his eyes – except that the poet does not want to do this, as it would mean sacrificing the sight of his lover. The poet asks the sun if the sun has not already been blinded by the beauty of his lady, to tell him where the abundance of spice and gold can be found in both the East and West Indies – on the journey of the sun across the world or in the bed of the poet. The sun should enquire where the Kings are that it has seen, and the answer would be that all this strength lies in the poet’s bed. Note the images of geographical exploration and politics used here. The world is just a pale contrast to the richness and strength found in the bed of the poet.

In the final stanza, the poet broadens his political profile by declaring that his lover is both all the states in the world and all its leaders. For him, “Nothing else is”—in other words, nothing else is true. Note the basic focus of the language here. Princes only imitate their influence, and wealth is only alchemy, i.e. a pretence (alchemy was a mediaeval pretence of science that tried to turn base metals into gold).

The sun is just half as happy as it is because it’s single. As the sun ages, the poet suggests that it will make life simpler by warming just the lovers, as the lovers’ bedroom is the entire universe. As the goal of the sun is to shine upon the entire earth, this will be done by shining only upon them. Their bed becomes the new centre of the sun’s orbit “thy spheare”. This is a victorious conclusion that the lovers’ room is worth everything in the whole world.

Analysis of The Sunne Rising

Lines 1-5 The poet assumes a playful mocking tone, quite out of character in a love poem.

Why does he begin with an outburst at the sun?

1) partly to proclaim that he and his mistress enjoy a timeless state of happiness and therefore the sun’s intrusion to mark the day-break smacks of foolish interference.

2) but more to emphasise upon their state of timeless bliss that goes counter to the Sun’s rigid and obsessive concern with time This is clearly expressed in line 10 and 11.

In the course of the first five lines, the poet shifts attention from the Sun to himself and to his mistress (“call on us” (L.3)) and then back to the Sun (L.5). The tone varies from derision and scorn to lazy contentment (of being together in bed) and back to protest and gentle mockery. The poem ‘The Sunne Rising’ is a typical example of humorous bravado, “the exultant brag” (Clay Hunt) of a lover which conceals the intense passion underneath these peremptory opening words.

4) “motions”: movements.

The Sun’s movements mark seasonal changes, but the lovers’ seasons do not stand affected.

While the above explanation is satisfactory, one notices a deeper and subtler meaning of the word “motions”. Towards the end of the 16C (i.e. the turn of the Century), the earlier Ptolemaic theory of the man-centred universe (the solar system moves around Man who is at the centre of the earth) was replaced by the new Copernican cosmology which said that the earth orbited about the central sun. Can you realise the implications of this discovery? The new theory reduced man to the status of a tiny, dwarfed creature moving on the surface of a minor planet-the earth-and around the sun. Donne does not accept this new philosophy. He intentionally claims a central position for him and his mistress in the face of all contrary scientific evidence. He says that the sun does not possess the dignified Copernican centre and he deliberately strips it of all its majesty to reduce it to a foolish busy-body making his rounds to mark time. He dismisses as impertinence on the part of the sun to impose time on the lovers-its arbitrary division of time into ‘ days, hours and months (L. 10).

These lines extend the tone of gentle mockery. Continuing his sense of displeasure, he directs the sun to attend to trivial and humbler duties such as waking up school children and “sour apprentices”, court-huntsmen in the service of the king and lazy harvesters who all have to be reluctantly turned out of bed.

Line 8: “country ants”: peasants

Can you discern the paradox here as the poet compares his state of lying-in-bed with the wakeful state of all others mentioned above? The poet and his mistress though in bed are active in their experience of love while the others with their sleepy reluctance to wake up reveal their sluggishness. Hence he can later claim in L.21 that they two are the King and the Princes, “all states” and “all the world.

They are far superior to the rest of the world.

Lines 11-12

After his affirmation that their love is beyond “the rags of time” he begins yet another playful tirade at the sun. He asks the sun, “Why do you think that you possess all-powerful beams ?’ The short line (12) “why shouldst thou thinke” with its stress on all the four syllables is intended to give the question a ring of personal assurance. He can boast in the next line (13) that he can blot out the sun’s beams by closing his eyes. But he will not do so far fear of losing sight of his mistress (L. 14)

Line 15: Instead of the Sun blinding its viewers with its powerful rays, Donne luxuriates hyperbole as he asks the sun if it is not blinded by the beauty of his mistress’ eyes!

This hyperbolic exaggeration coming at the end of his angry impatience reflects his all-embracing passion for his beloved.

Lines 17-18

“The India’s of Spice and Myne”: reference to both the East Indies (full of spices) ad the West Indies (full of gold mine).

Once again speaking in terms of the sun’s motions, he says that the sun may go to the East or the West Indies, but both are here with him. He asks the Sun if it can find anything worthy outside of their little room, for everything is to be found here where he and his mistress lie.

All the treasures of the world, all its rich splendour are enclosed within that little sphere where they lie together. The entire universe shrinks in the presence of their magnificent love.

Lines 21-22

The poem builds on this rapturous exclamation as he says “She is all states, and all Princes, I”. But such extravagant boast does not sound ludicrous and is. made credible by the short line following: “Nothing else is”. The exaggerated hyperbole is brought down to the level of a plain statement – so direct and simple that no other sense can be read into it.

All these images focus our attention more on the experience of love, rather than on the physical beauty of his mistress. This is the achievement of Donne. In other words, a lover may be mistaken in his judgement of his mistress’s beauty, but the experience he undergoes as he thinks of her cannot be false.

Lines 23-24

Princes only imitate us. In their all-embracing state of total bliss, they possess almost everything in this world as though they are the sovereigns. “Us” is a key word as it reiterates the lover’s assured knowledge of their mutual and shared happiness. All other coveted things on earth – wealth and honour are but poor reflections of their rich treasured possession of each other.

From the vast expansive world, through which the sun traverses, through the West and the East Indies, through all states of Kings and Princes, the poet turns to their tiny world, the room in which they lie in bed. The whole world is contracted into their little world. Thus the world of the lovers is beyond time and space.

Lines 27-30

After this assertion of their world of love, the poet once more shifts to his earlier mocking tone as he addresses the Sun as ageing and therefore requiring ease and comfort. He asks the sun not to tire itself in the process of moving through the world to warm it, but it can shine on the two of them as they constitute the entire world.

Thus by the end of the poem, the majestic sun has been relegated to the role of an ancient, tired workman compelled to do his daily duties of waking and warming the world. The lover suggests that the sun can minimise its movement by remaining static in his room and shining on him and his mistress – who constitute the whole world. The poet has established the lovers’ superiority and he is no longer irascible as at the beginning. On the contrary, he welcomes the intrusion of the Sun by extending his permission to shine on them and thereby save its labour.

The poem thus amalgamates and diverse experiences, diverse tones and diverse imagery which gives it the specific metaphysical quality of wit. Samuel Johnson, the 18th C English critic, ‘characterised metaphysical poetry as “heterogeneous ideas yoked by violence together-nature and an are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons and illusions.” Metaphysical Poetry is full of conceits or far-fetched imagery. There are three modes of conceits in this poem – the dialectic, the rhetoric and the witty modes. The dialectic conceit helps to establish the truth (here the superiority of Love), the rhetoric aims at persuasion (persuading the sun at the end to give up its cumbersome labour to journey through the world and instead just shine on the two of them) and the witty mode seeks to blend apparently disparate experiences (where the sun with its astronomical antiquity is equated with human old age and thereby reduced to a subservient role in the context of the man-centred universe).

The poem is made of three regular stanzas of ten lines long and follows the rhyme scheme ABBACDCDEE.

The metre of the poem follows a line-stress pattern of the kind:

  • Lines one, five and six are metered in iambic tetrameter (four feet).
  • Line two is in dimeter (two feet).
  • Lines three, four and seven through ten are in pentameter (five feet).

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The Sun Rising as a Metaphysical Poem

Asses John Donne's "The Sunne Rising" as a Metaphysical and Philosophical Love Poem

Concisely, the term “metaphysical poetry” connotes the characteristics of complexity, intellectual tone, abundance of subtle wit, fusion of intellect and emotion, colloquial argumentative tone, conceits, scholarly allusions, dramatic tone, and philosophic or reflective elements. John Donne was the most outstanding of the English Metaphysical Poets. His poetry is noted for its ingenious fusion of wit and seriousness and represents a shift from classical models toward a more personal style. Donne’s poetry embraces a wide range of secular and religious subjects.

Donne faced a moral vacuum and experienced the unstable nature of the universe. So he tried to find out a resolution, first in the Neo-Platonic theory and then finally in the traditional Christian religion. The Sun Rising may be said to be an intellectual exercise in reversing the contemporary Copernican heliocentric system, in which the sun was given a dominant centrality. Donne makes the lovers undercut that centrality by playing the part of the decentred earth and asserting their former supremacy in the geometric Ptolemic context.

  • The Sun Rising as a Love Poem
  • The Good Morrow Analysis
  • The Sunne Rising Line by Line Analysis

The very beginning of The Sun Rising exemplifies all the above-mentioned characteristics of metaphysical poetry. The abrupt and colloquial beginning startles, if not shocks, the reader along with the speaker’s irreverence; and the use of extravagant conceits are without precedent:

“Busy old fool, unruly sun Why dost thou thus Through the window and through curtains call on us?”

In this poem, the conceits are a little strange, but no more. As a lover, he puts himself above ordinary people: schoolboys, apprentices, court-huntsmen, country ants, who all must work to the sun’s (time’s) bidding.

At once this kind of address of the sun reverses the tradition of hundreds of Petrarchan and Elizabethan love-poems, in which the sun is a touchstone of ecstatic tribute—“the golden eye of heaven”, “Hyperion” etc. In this respect, the poem can be marked as an inverted aubade, in which the sun is pursued through three stanzas of sustained exhilaration.

However, any potentiality comic effect is undercut by a note of seriousness, applied in a dramatic manner. Donne’s imagery, though bizarre and exaggerated as a ‘pseudo-argument’ asserts what every Platonist and Christian really believes. At certain moments, any man might be wrapped beyond mortality, in the eternal intimation of spiritual love. This belief leads Donne to gather his confidence and defy time:

“Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime, Nor hours, days, months, which are rags of time.”

From the philosophical point of view, this statement goes triumphantly over the assumed contempt for the sun, attesting that the world fittingly symbolised in the “school-boys” and “sowre prentices”, the “country ants” and the “Court-huntsmen” is indeed tinged with illusions. In calling the material world unreal, the poet is saying with Plato, that even the world’s princes and potentates are mere shadows, an imitation in time of the timeless ideals.

Such complex of ideas remains in the second stanza too. The sun and the lovers have actually changed roles, with the mistress for an instant becoming the sun, and her “eye-beams” blinding the usurped lord of light. Love is not a mere reflection of the lover’s needs, subjective and transient; it is homage to beauty revealed and revered:

“She is all States, and all Princes, I,  Nothing else is:          …compar’d to this All honour’s mimic…”

Donne is here praising mutual love as an experience of supreme value that opposes the transitory material world and finally transcends it. But remarkably, transcendence of the physical world and mortality is accomplished not by denial of the body but by its fulfillment. Whereas Neo-Platonist like Baldasar Castiglione suggests in his The Book of the Courtier, that the lover can ascend to spiritual love only by leaving behind the impure body, Donne insists that transcendental spiritual love is also sexual indeed, that lovers transcend the physicality of existence by embracing the body.

On reaching this conclusion of supreme value, the lovers can invite the sun to carry on his business for they are beyond the reach of the co-ordinates of time in their world “contracted thus”:

“Shine here to us, and thou art every where This bed thy centre is, these walls, thy sphere”.

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Related posts:

  • The Canonization by John Donne Critical Analysis
  • Analysis of A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
  • The Sun Rising Poem Line by Line Explanation
  • The Good Morrow | Summary, Theme, Line by Line Analysis
  • The Anniversary as a Metaphysical Love Poem

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The Sun Rising

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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 to-morrow late tell me,     Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine     Be where thou left'st 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 honour'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.

This poem is in the public domain.

More by this poet

Batter my heart, three person'd god (holy sonnet 14).

Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like an usurped town, to another due, Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end. Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,

Love’s Growth

I scarce believe my love to be so pure    As I had thought it was,    Because it doth endure Vicissitude, and season, as the grasse; Methinks I lied all winter, when I swore, My love was infinite, if spring make’it more.

As due by many titles I resign (Holy Sonnet II)

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    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. This Poem has a Poem Guide.

  8. The Sun Rising Poem Summary and Analysis

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