The poem is written in first person narrator form and the saucy tone is quickly set in the first line: the expression “Busy old fool, unruly Sun” depicts a chiding discomfort which the speaker feels towards the sun, later developed into pity (line 2, “Why dost thou thus”) and anger (line 5, “Saucy pedantic wretch”). As emotions start building up in the speaker, the first stanza is used to remind the sun of his duties (wake up school boys (line 6), tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride (line 7), and call country ants to harvest offices (line 8)). The list is settled by the climactic moment, when the speaker finally states how “love doesn’t know season nor clime, nor hours, days, months” in lines 9 and 10; these lines yet again prove how the speaker prioritizes love on the sun’s powers. The second stanza is more personal, yet still offensive. As an example, the speaker starts chiding the sun by making himself sound more powerful. When he states that “thy beams so reverend, and strong” in line 11, the speaker continues by saying that “I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink” in line 13, yet not wanting to “lose her sight so long” in line 14. Basically the speakers blames the sun for thinking of having reverend and strong beams, when they simply could be avoided by closing his eyes, except that he doesn’t want to lose sight of his lover and hence is ready to suffer those beams for her. The speaker later develops this assertion by saying that his lover is like every state in the world (“She’s all states” line 21) and he is like every prince (“and all princes I” line 21); nothing else is real or matters in their perfect world. Lines 23 and 24 are a further enforcement of his statement, as he reminds the sun that owning countries is like a game for princes; whereas he has real love, he has everything, and all the rest compared is nothing, “All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy” (line 24). He then proceeds by egocentrically assuming the sun’s reality being “half as happy as we” in line 25. Following this, a shift in the mood of the speaker occurs. In fact, he realizes how the sun’s old age desires ease and his only job now is to shine the whole world, their bed. He almost takes pity for the sun when in line 29 he finally persuades it to “Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere”; the tone is no more belittling but empathetic and indulgent, as he finishes off by reminding the sun that “This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere” in the last line.
The poet uses interesting devices to make the poem effective. Enjambment is key in keeping the flow of the work, but personification is pivotal in the developments of thought and of the hyperbole. As an example, in lines 25 and 26 the fact that the Sun can shine over only half of the world at one time recurs. The lovers, however, represent the whole world, not just a half, hence explained why the sun is “half as happy as we”, a simile which proves very effective. Also, personification relates to the theme of age which persists throughout the poem, where the sun is portrayed as “old” (line 1) and hence “Thine age asks ease” in line 27. Other examples of personification occur in line 3, “Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?” in line 7, “Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride”; line 16, “Look, and to-morrow late tell me” and more.
In conclusion, Donne is able to connect the external world (the sun) to the internal world (the bedroom) by building up tension and suspense through the use of effective tone and devices such as personification. As the tension later releases, this poem successfully evokes lots of emotions in the reader, who ends up asking him/herself about critical life subjects such as priorities and love.
Federico Giusto