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Home » , » Write a critical appreciation of the poem "The Sun Rising"?
The theme of the poem, " The Sun Rising ", is the self-sufficient nature of love. It is a common love-lyric revealing the poet's feeling of happiness and completeness in the possession of his mistress. Calling the Sun busy old fool, unruly sun the poet says that, if he so desires he can outshine all its glory by a wink and suggests the possibility of the brightness of his beloved's eyes having blinded its own. The world of love and the external world are then juxtaposed and the little world of the lovers is said to be a microcosm of the outside world. The lovers concentrate within themselves all the glory and riches of the outside world.

The theme has been presented by evocative statements and by imagery, drawn with the help of wits, conceits, hyperbolical expressions, epigrams, and other metaphysical techniques The poem is remarkable for its tonal variations. From the gay impertinence of its opening, the poet passes on to the full notes of satisfied love and finally ends with exaltation of love." The Sun Rising " is a dramatic lyric in the form of a dialogue between the poet and the sum. The poet's beloved is the silent listener present in the background throughout. Boys going to school, apprentices unwilling to work, busy farmers, flattering courtiers, kings and princes are some other characters introduced from the outside world. The time is early in the morning when the sun is rising in the East and the setting is provided by the sunlit bedroom where the poet lies with his beloved.

As for technical devices, the poet has employed all his learning and metaphysical wits and extravagant conceits are used to glorify his beloved. The poet claims that, with a wink of his eyes, he can eclipse and cloud the sun. In drawing a conceit, the poet refers to the recent geographical discoveries. The beloved who lies in the bed with him is a combination of both the Indies: of spice and mine. She thus represents both the East and the West Indies because of her sweet fragrance and her glitter. As for himself, he represents all the kings of the world, and she represents all the states of the world.
"She's all states, and all princes I, Nothing else is."
In the final stanza, the poet says that, if the sun shines on the lover's bed-room only and does not travel to other places, it will still be warming the whole world because their bedroom is a microcosm of the whole world. These are all far-fetched and fantastic ideas.The language of the poem is bold and extravagant. The poet scorns the sun in a language which for its boldness is unmatched in lyric poetry. The sum is called a busy and old fool; it is a saucy and pedantic wretch. It can go and chide late school boys and apprentices but it has no jurisdiction over the poet and his wife."

The Sun Rising" by virtue of its subject matter, intellectual style, far-fetched but wonderful imagery, blend of emotion and intellect, vision of a perfect love and lyrical beauty may be called one of the most successful love-poems of Donne. As a poet of love, he can be an extreme realist but very wonderfully he deals with both the physical and spiritual aspects of love. The situation that he creates here is very significant for wedded lovers, but unusual in the poetry of love- two lovers in bed, who refuse to get up when the sun shines on them in the morning, penetrating the window.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Very nice

Unknown said...

Good

Unknown said...

Very helpful 👍👍

Unknown said...

Very helpful....... but plz add the literary devices and techniques used in the poem as well.....

Unknown said...

Nice it should be more clear

Anonymous said...

Really it's very vry helpful for a student. Thank u so much..

Anonymous said...

Really it's very vry helpful for a student. Thank u so much..

English Literature and Linguistics notes said...

Nice sharing.. Thankyou

English Literature and Linguistics notes said...

Nice sharing.. Thankyou

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