this video is revision for John Dunn's poem the sun rising as preparation for the final examinations of the ieb curriculum but specifically this video is for Cullen in my current metrick class John dun's life story is fascinating his lifespan saw three monarchs Queen Elizabeth I King James and King Charles i d was a bright young man he gained entry to both Oxford and Cambridge universities however he was a Catholic in a time when Catholics were persecuted in England and this meant that he could study at these prestigious universities but he couldn't get a degree from either of them dun studied a wide variety of subjects including Theology and he held a number of jobs including those of soldier lawyer Diplomat and even a member of Parliament during the reign of King James this is the King James of the King James version of the Bible dun swapped his Catholic beliefs for those of the Anglican Church he was appointed as dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London where he became a noted speaker and attracted large crowds to listen to his sermons now his poetry is characterized by both religious and secular imagery dra from his diverse life experiences in fact his writing was so admired that his work was used as a model by a group of poets who became known as the metaphysical poets what exactly is metaphysical poetry the subject matter is usually to do with the nature of reality it was a reaction against the rigid writings and poetry of the Elizabeth an era you'll note that dun's writing is quite conversational using the diction and rhythms of normal speech patterns of the time this conversational easy style appears to be at odds with the content the writing is deliberately provocative it uses outrageous logic and wit usually by means of clever paradoxes and puns the content is often written in the form of an argument one of the best known examples of this is dun's poem The flee in which the speaker uses the bite of a flea to construct an argument against a woman's resistance to his romantic advances this formulation of thought or argument is what is known as a metaphysical conceit these conceits are simply ideas that take dissimilar images to make a philosophical point pause the video here to read these lines from the poem and I'm sure you'll agree that it is illogically logical when we study these poems it's initially challenging as readers often struggle to see the link the connection between the images and the points made by the poet if you're intrigued by this manner of writing I encourage you to watch the film version of the pulit a prizewinning play wit by Margaret Edson starring Emma Thompson Thompson plays the role of an English Professor who specializes in the works of John Dunn and the play covers her battle against terminal cancer and her final understanding of the conceit the wit in D sonnet death be not proud and the semi colon in the title is deliberate as a reference to the discussion surrounding the use of punctuation in the final line of that sonnet right let's get into the poem itself always look at a poem's structure on the page before you start analyzing it you'll immediately see here that the poem consists of three stanzas with 10 lines in each stanza the rhyme scheme can be quite tricky too but knowing that metaphysical poets like Dunn didn't want to write in the strict the rigid structure of their Elizabethan predecessors makes it a little bit easier also bear in mind that English pronunciation has changed over the centuries and words like this and thus were quite similar to the ear in Dan's time and this would account for the half Rhymes that we encounter in this poem the poem is an example of apostrophe no not a reference to the punctuation mark in this context apostrophe occurs when a non-human item is addressed by the speaker here the speaker is addressing the sun when the poem was written the sun was regarded as the Monarch the king of the sky the first line which directly addresses the son appears to be disrespectful even scornful the speaker uses disparaging words busy old fool in line one and Saucy pedantic wretch in line five says that the son has had the cheek to interrupt the speaker and his lover interrupting whatever they were doing in other words the sun has dared to shine Through the Windows disturbing the PE where they are lying together in bed and this is the question that's posed in lines 1 2 3 and again in line four where the speaker challenges the sun asking whether the lovers must be dictated to by the rising and setting of the sun must lovers Seasons run according to the Motions or movement of the Sun and you'll see the diction is bold and Direct in terms of meaning someone who is Saucy is usually mischievous cheeky often with a sexual connotation if you're pedantic you're overly concerned with rules and regulations the speaker is accusing the son of rising on time every morning instead of allowing the lovers a few extra moments a wret is a person you wouldn't listen to someone who's contemptible the speaker then tells the son to go and chide other people in other words he instructs the son to wake up other people now take note of the social position of these other folk they're all in a position of subordination school boys who are led to school sound familiar anyone apprentices who are sour or unenthusiastic about their work Huntsmen who have to accompany the King on Horseback when he feels like hunting Ing and Country ants rural workers who have to harvest crops and deliver them to offices the speaker is telling the son that the son isn't as important as he thinks he is that he should rather serve others just as school boys apprentices Huntsmen and peasants serve others the the last two lines of the stanza underline the speaker's reasoning he states that love is not beholden to any timetable it doesn't know any Seasons or climates that change it's not tied to a clock or a calendar that would Mark the passing of hours days or months the use of the phrase Rags of time further emphasizes the scorn that the speaker directs to the sun Rags are unwanted Tatty pieces of cloth they're not useful for anything these lovers have no need for these man-made constructs of time they feel that they are free to do as they wish when they wish the apostrophe continues in the second stanza the speaker challenges the son asking him whether he believes that his sunbeams are sacred and Powerful the use of the rhetorical question is quite cheeky it's almost a childish playground taunt you think you're so strong don't you in 913 the speaker uses wit to illustrate how he can defy the Sun by closing his eyes the sunlight is gone just a wink will deny the son his power do you see the clever use of the word Eclipse when there's a solar eclipse the Sun's light is dimmed by the shadow of the Moon moving across our line of sight between the Sun and the Earth the same effect is achieved by the speaker when he shuts his eyes he's able to block out the sunlight now this is typical of the conceits of metaphysical poetry it's an illogical logic in line 14 the speaker alludes to the beauty and attraction of his lover he says that he would prefer to keep his eyes open as closing them will mean that he won't be able to see his lady he continues with a taunting tone saying that the lady is so beautiful that even the sun would be blinded by her beauty you can see this in line 16 to 20 where the speaker is saying that the sun can see the natural beauty around the world but it won't compare with the beauty of his lady love it's as though D is saying that he and his lover can outshine the Sun from line 16 to 18 the conceit is developed the son was told to leave but now is invited to stare and observe the lovers the speaker challenges the Sun son to find anything more perfect more beautiful than he and his lover he asks the son to think of the precious things that it has experienced such as both the indas of spice and mine this is a reference to the India of the spice trade and to the gold mines in the West Indies which accounts for the reference to both indias he is saying that everything precious and scarce is right here in the bedroom in lines 19 and 20 the speaker states that everything and everyone that is of importance is in fact lying in the bed he and his lover are more precious than spices and gold more important than Kings this idea is continued in lines 21 and 22 in the third stanza the lady is everything to the speaker more important than all countries all royalty and all leaders in lines 23 and 24 the speaker suggests that these princes and leaders play at being like the couple they pretend they fake their happiness the couple are the real deal they don't have to mimic their happiness their wealth is genuine they have been able to take something ordinary and transform it into something precious this is the alchemy that is referred to in line 24 in lines 25 to 28 the speaker contends that the son should be as happy as he is as he has contracted or diminished the size of the world to one room in fact to one bed this will make it easier for the Aged sun to fulfill its duties and warm the world as the speakers in entire world is present in this one room on this bed take note of the use of alliteration here it evokes the gentle task of warming the world the form the center of the universe it's as though this apostrophe has flipped the roles the speaker and his lover are the celestial bodies at the center of the universe and the Sun is just a human being who has interrupted the lovers remember that in dun's time scientists and astronomers were still arguing about the mechanics of the universe and wondering what went around what the sun has been relegated from its position as a powerful Celestial body it's now pied by the speaker as it is no longer the center of the world this metaphysical po makes great use of hyperbole to convey its message now in literature there's a little known tradition of love poems or songs that are sung by lovers who have to separate at dawn in this tradition the lovers are often adulterous having illicit love affairs and the Rising Sun is their sign that their night of fun is over and these love songs are called oads and you can decide whether you think that this poem is an orad or not is the speaker involved in an illicit Affair what do you think take note of the shifts in Emotion throughout the poem it starts with disdain in the beginning moves to a challenge of the Sun and ends with a sort of conciliation that's another perem revised I wish you all for your exams good luck