The Sunne Rising
Busie old foole, unruly Sunne,Why dost thou thus,Through windowes, and through curtaines call on us?Must to thy motions lovers seasons run?Sawcy pedantique wretch, goe chideLate schoole boyes, and sowre prentices,Goe tell Court-huntsmen, that the King will ride,Call countrey ants to harvest offices;Love, all alike, no season knowes, nor clyme,Nor houres, dayes, moneths, which are the rags of time.
Thy beames, so reverend, and strongWhy shouldst thou thinke?I could eclipse and cloud them with a winke,But that I would not lose her sight so long:If her eyes have not blinded thine,Looke, and to morrow late, tell mee,Whether both the'India's of spice and MyneBe where thou leftst them, or lie here with mee.Aske for those Kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,And thou shalt heare, All here in one bed lay.
She'is all States, and all Princes, I,Nothing else is.Princes doe but play us; compar'd to this,All honor's mimique; All wealth alchimie.Thou sunne art halfe as happy'as wee,In that the world's contracted thus;Thine age askes ease, and since thy duties beeTo warme the world, that's done in warming us.Shine here to us, and thou art every where;This bed thy center is, these walls, thy spheare.
Words in this poem
- sowre n.
- One who, or that which, sows.
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sunne Rising is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #48688; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Donne, The Sunne Rising, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-sunne-rising.html, id L19841.
Form and metre
The Sunne Rising is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAC-C-DD sunneA · thusB · usB · runA · chideC · prentices · rideC · offices · clymeD · timeD
- 2 ABBACDCDEE strongA · thinkeB · winkeB · longA · thineC · meeD · myneC · meeD · yesterdayE · layE
- 3 A---ABAB-- iA · is · this · alchimie · weeA · thusB · beeA · usB · where · spheare
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Busie old foole, unruly Sunne, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Why dost thou thus, | 4 | ···· |
| Through windowes, and through curtaines call on us? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Must to thy motions lovers seasons run? | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Sawcy pedantique wretch, goe chide | 8 | ········ |
| Late schoole boyes, and sowre prentices, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Goe tell Court-huntsmen, that the King will ride, | 10 | ·········· |
| Call countrey ants to harvest offices; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Love, all alike, no season knowes, nor clyme, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Nor houres, dayes, moneths, which are the rags of time. | 11 | ·/········· |
| Thy beames, so reverend, and strong | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Why shouldst thou thinke? | 4 | ···· |
| I could eclipse and cloud them with a winke, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| But that I would not lose her sight so long: | 10 | ·········· |
| If her eyes have not blinded thine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Looke, and to morrow late, tell mee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whether both the'India's of spice and Myne | 9 | ········· |
| Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with mee. | 10 | ·········· |
| Aske for those Kings whom thou saw'st yesterday, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And thou shalt heare, All here in one bed lay. | 10 | ·········· |
| She'is all States, and all Princes, I, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nothing else is. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Princes doe but play us; compar'd to this, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| All honor's mimique; All wealth alchimie. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thou sunne art halfe as happy'as wee, | 8 | ········ |
| In that the world's contracted thus; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Thine age askes ease, and since thy duties bee | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To warme the world, that's done in warming us. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Shine here to us, and thou art every where; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This bed thy center is, these walls, thy spheare. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 8
Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).
- Stanza 1, line 3 call] look 1669
- Stanza 1, line 6 and] or 1669
- Stanza 1, line 8 offices;] offices, 1633
- Stanza 2, line 7 spice] space 1650-54
- Stanza 2, line 8 leftst 1633: left 1635-69
- Stanza 3, line 3 us;] us, 1633
- Stanza 3, line 4 wealth] wealth's A25, C, P
- Stanza 3, line 6 thus; Ed: thus. 1633-69
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