John Donne's The Sunne Rising

Donne's iconoclastic aubade The Sunne Rising, is one of the greatest works produced by this poet and stands as a benchmark for the quality of works created by the well known metaphysical poets of his era. An understanding of the metaphysical standpoint Donne takes in his writings is essential to grasp the themes and ideas conveyed through his poems. Further, the tone mood and structure are crucial techniques Donne utilises to create a message powerful in it's delivery and effective in it's aim. Donne's fascination with Latin poetry confirms that this ode is based on a similar work by Ovid entitled Amores 1.13, in which entirely similar themes are conveyed to the reader.

The poem seems to immerse the reader into a transmuted reality, in that the love of the narrator is blind to that that is greater than himself: the sun. This purely individualistic symbol creates an existential feel to Donne's motives. " Busy old fool, unruly sun,...", The angry tone in the opening line crea...