Page 24 - FEN1(2)C01 LITERATURES IN ENGLISH PAPER I: From Chaucer to the Present

John Donne, Sun Rising

Poem -
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44129/the-sun-
rising
Paraphrase.
‘Sun, why do you insist on peeping through windows and
curtains like some old busybody, getting us out of bed like
some unwanted visitor calling round? Go after the boys
who are running late for school, and the apprentices who
aren’t hurrying to get to work! Go and do something
useful, like telling the huntsman at the royal court that the
king has decided to go out riding today or tell the ants to
go about their business. But love [i.e. what my lover and
I were up to until you turned up] does not obey the hours
of the day or seasons of the year: it transcends such
things.’

‘You with your strong sun’s rays, what are you thinking?
I could get rid of your light in an instant, by simply closing
my eyes – but I don’t want to because that would also
deprive me of sight of my beloved. Have you been blinded
by the beauty of her eyes yet? If not, then look, and then
tomorrow evening, come back and tell me whether the
East Indies and West Indies – both prized for their spices
and their precious minerals – are where you left them, or
whether such treasures and gems lie here next to me, my
beloved is such a wonderful treasure. Ask for the kings
you saw yesterday, and you’ll find that all the royal
splendour of the world has been lying here.’