The Sun Rising Commentary

THE SUN RISING.
by John Donne


BUSY old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run ?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school-boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices ;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

Thy beams so reverend, and strong
Why shouldst thou think ?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long.
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and to-morrow late tell me,
Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay."

She's all states, and all princes I ;
Nothing else is ;
Princes do but play us ; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world's contracted thus ;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere ;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

In Donne's poem "Sun Rising" he seems to ignore the conventional measures of rhyme and meter and poetic beauty. His language is direct and like a conversation instead of a typical verse, in which his verse is full of disagreement.By reading over this poem multiple times this poem cannot be read literally. Donne's placement of the outside world, in favor of the lovers' is a rhetorical technique used to argue for the strength and energy of mutual love.As the poem progresses, however, he begins to misspeak, forgetting the earlier language that he used. The poem dismantles itself through the natural contradictions of the persons rhetoric questioning, leaving the reader unconvinced that language allows love to exceed the outside world.

Throughout the poem, the speaker ridicules the sun and the authority, actually just an interruption according to the speaker; it feels it has, all the time justifying the ridicule with the greatness of love. Though in the first stanza the speaker admits that the sun does dictate some things of the earth and has certain authority, such as “chiding late school boys and sour prentices” and telling farmers and courtiers when to act, he implies that the sun has no power over love, as when he says that love is eternally the same, unaffected by time or seasons that which the sun controls.In stanza two, the speaker asks, “Thy beams, so reverend and strong / Why shouldst thou think?” . The speaker explains that he can blot out the supposed rays of the sun by winking, but he can’t because the beauty of his lover is blinding.

I personally believe that the speaker is not trying to say that love is more powerful than the sun regarding its ability to affect people; rather, he is merely pointing out that the sun has no power over love. Seemingly the mood seems to switch, He says the sun is old and so it should rest because its duty is to warm the world and since they are the world, the sun has completed its duty. Then, the poet cleverly turns the sun’s refusal to leave into a show of its generosity and by shining at them, it has centered itself upon the room of his love.

The Good-Morrow Commentary

The Good-Morrow is a poem filled with metaphors and internal rhyme scheme similes. The poem is basically talking about New good morning. It’s a poem that is centralized around two key images. One of these metaphors is of two people who loved, being awaken from a different past to a new beginning or life. The second metaphor is of a new world or society being formed and made around their newly found love. In this poem there is all type of literary device that are used to approach the meaning of this poem. One evident device is rhetorical questions another device is the rhyme pattern.

In the first couple of stanza, Donne writes "I wonder, by my troth, what thou, and I did till we loved?" this line to me point out that in his past he was unaware of what the true value of life was until he possessed love. He also says also he says "but suck'd on country pleasured, childishly?" which meant that as he was younger both lovers gave into the act of sexual pleasure immaturely Now knowing that the enjoyment that they once had was lifeless and once now they are wise enough to understand love and be aware of its presence in life. Just from reading this poem and other of Donne’s poem I can tell that Donne has an ability to become obsessed with pleasures.

The title “The Good-Morrow” show us Donne’s feeling toward true love and the true meaning of it. The third stanza describes the reflection of their eyes in each other’s eyes and is filled with imagery. The line “true plain hearts” are shown in each face of the lover which supports the idea they are looking at one another. The poet then describes their world using him as one hemisphere and her as the other, making one whole, perfect world of mutual love. The poem concludes that their love is “so alike “that their love cannot die.

Act of Resistance

For my act of resistance I refrained from eating poultry meats and anything that has been artificially processed over the holiday weekend. (And yes including turkey) I was reading an article on how the company KFC has changed their name. Kentucky Fried Chicken has become KFC. At first I thought the real reason was because of the "FRIED" food issue but it’s not. The reason why they call it KFC is because they cannot use the word chicken anymore. They actually use genetically manipulated organisms. These so called "chickens" are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to pump blood and nutrients throughout their structure. They have no beaks, no feathers, and no feet. Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great for KFC because they do not have to pay so much for their production costs. There is no more plucking of the feathers or the removal of the beaks and feet. The government has told them to change all of their menus so they do not say chicken anywhere. If you look closely you will notice this. I was listening to their commercials, over the weekend and I was surprised that I didn’t see or hear the word chicken. I find this matter to be very disturbing. I hope people will start to realize this and let other people know. First primarily because it’s extremely cruel to animals and personally it’s completely unmoral. As I am usually eating KFC at least once every two weeks it was surprising for me to completely avoid the holiday bird, but I felt like I accomplished something.I also looked on the website at KFC nutrient guide and it said, “At KFC, we take great pride and care to provide you with the best food and dining experience in the quick service restaurant business. We believe eating sensibly, combined with appropriate exercise, is the best solution for a healthy lifestyle.” My reaction to this was at what cost you will provide good service. Even if it requires you harming chickens to an extent where they don’t look like chickens.

The Ending of Lysisrata

The chorus of old men sympathize with Cinesias, but it is not sympathy that he wants; he is now quite angry. Within moments a magistrate from Athens arrives and is joined by a herald from Sparta. Both are suffering from the women’s absence, as are men everywhere. The two agree that something must be done, and the herald returns to Sparta with instructions to return with someone who can arrange a truce. While everyone awaits the peace envoy, the women seek to soothe the men. When the ambassadors arrive, Lysistrata is sent for, and the negotiations begin. But when it appears that neither group can reach an agreement, the men are invited inside to feast. The men’s desire for their wives increases with the wine, and soon the treaty is signed, and both men and women leave for their homes. This ca

The role of Women in Lysistrata

Women were property, In Lysistrata "Something beautiful to own, to gaze upon, to fulfill your sexual needs and desires and to bear and raise your children in the appropriate cultural aspect". Except for sex and the family element, women really didn't have any redeeming social values. To even consider putting a woman into any position where she would be required to think, or to make decisions outside of the home was laughable. This is the root of their humor. In the opening scenes of the play, Lysistrata says "I'm furious with women and womankind. Don't all of our husbands say we are not to be relied upon... Don't they think we are such clever villains?" The women don't like the fact that the only power women have had over men from the dawn of time is to withhold from sex.

Women Challenges

The women challenge the masculine role in Lysistrata to preserve
the traditional way of life of the community. When the
women become challenged themselves, they take on the
masculine characteristics and attitudes and defeat the men
physically, mentally but most of all strategically. Proving
that neither side benefits from it, just that one side
loses more than the other side.

A glimpse of disobedience

one of the most ‘‘shocking’’ aspects of the women’s actions is their disobedience to men. When the men arrive with logs and the intention of burning out the women, they tell the audience that they are shocked that the women they have nourished have turned on the men. In short, the women of Athens are no longer obedient to the men of Athens. Also, the women are willing to trade insults and even to fight, if necessary. This behavior contradicts the expected demeanor of the women and shows their dedication to Lysistrata plan.