Review of The Sun Rising by John Donne
This is essentially a poem that deals with love and is an expression of the intensity of love that the protagonist has for his partner. It is also a poem that intends to show the universal value and meaning of true love. The central literary device used in the poem is a form of extended metaphor, known as a "conceit", which functions to enhance the themes and meaning and express the poet's feelings. An argumentative tone is used throughout the poem. The poet uses this method to further enhance the point that he is trying to make. The poem begins with the lines: "Busy old fool, unruly sun." The protagonist berates the sun for waking him and his lover from their state of ecstasy. The poet in fact uses personification by addressing the sun as a person. He expresses his view that the sun is a" fool" for shining through the windows and wakening them. This foolishness is due to the fact that it does not comprehend the importance and the extent of their love. Through p
The exaggeration in the poem builds logic of its own and is constructed to the point where the love between the two people is affirmed as being universal and complete and the bed in which they lie is a place where "all here in one bed lay". The poet continues this thought in the following stanza and states that "Nothing else is". In the second stanza the narrator turns to a discussion of his lover's eyes; which he compares to the sun. The line "If her eyes have not blinded Thine" suggests the intense beauty of his lover's eyes, which are capable of blinding the sun. Continuing the use the sun metaphor the protagonist states that: "Whether both th'Indias of spice and mine/ Be where thou Left'st them, or lie here with me. Throughout the poem metaphor and symbol have been used to convey a strong argument that succeeds in expressing the depth and importance of the protagonist's view of love; in the face of ordinary common sense. For example, the line "To warm the world, that's done in warming us" continues the logic of the poem and emphasizes the fact that their love is everywhere and is, for the lovers, the centre of the entire universe. Note as well how mundane images such as the bed are transformed through the logic and argument in the poem into symbols of external and undying love. Therefore if the sun shines on them, then, in terms of the felt immensity of their love, it shines "everywhere" at the same time. " Exaggeration is a literary device that is used to good effect in the poem.
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