The Sun Rising

  • Plot: The Sun Rising is a metaphysical poem by John Donne that personifies the sun, with the speaker talking directly to it as he lies in bed with his lover.
  • Structure & Language Techniques: The poem is divided into three stanzas, using complex metaphors, paradoxes, and hyperboles, which is typical of metaphysical poetry.
  • Themes & Linking Poems: The Sun Rising explores themes of love, time, space, and the individual versus the cosmic, which can be linked with Donne’s other poems like “The Flea” and “The Good-Morrow.”
  • Key Quotes: Some key quotes from The Sun Rising include “Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, / Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time” and “She is all states, and all princes I, / Nothing else is.”
  • Poet & Context: John Donne, known for his complex metaphysical conceits, wrote The Sun Rising in the 17th century, expressing both the audacity of men’s thinking during the Renaissance and the intimacy of romantic love.