Metaphysical Poem By John Donne

John Donne’s metaphysical poem written in 1600’s follows an intricate love poem that is both humorous and playful. Donne uses a range of poetic techniques but his most influential is the continued conceit of the sun that is continued throughout the poem. Through this he is able to introduce an outrageous idea, that he is better than the sun, his woman is “all the states” and he is “all princes.” Donne uses his intellect throughout the poem to justify his claims, especially focussing on the idea of everything rotating around the world. Donne 's tone changes throughout the poem often following the stanzas, he begins by chiding the sun, followed by reversing the conceit and egotistically saying he is greater than the sun, lastly he shows petty …show more content…
John Donne begins the first stanza of his metaphysical styled poem using direct an explosive language. Referring to the sun as a “Busy old fool, unruly sun” Donne straight away personify’s the sun as an intruder, and beginning a conceit that continues throughout the poem. The use of the comma after “busy old fool” draws the reader in by thinking that they have been insulted, or someone is about to be insulted further. By talking to the sun, Donne is using a poetic technique called an apostrophe, addressing something that isn 't immediately there. The first two lines are comparatively short compared to the rest of the stanza creating a conversational feel to the piece. The speaker adopts a chiding and arguing tone towards the sun referring to it as a busy body with a watchful personality. Donnes use of “call” is emphasised as it was withheld in the line “why dost thou thus?” Meaning that the reader has been waiting for it to come, without even realising …show more content…
The speaker questions the suns thought pattern through the use of a rhetorical question “Thy beames, so reverend and strong. Why shouldst though think?” The poem is written in 1600’s when there was a universal belief that earth is at the centre of the universe, and everything else circled around the earth in its own sphere. The bigger the sphere, the more important it was and had power of all smaller stars and planets. This led to the belief that planets and stars were holly and God like, thus Donne used the word “Reverend.” Following the time period light beams was also a relatively new concept, outlining Donnes background in science and his academia. The “strong” makes the beams feel solid, even when they are not a visible object. The speaker backs the rhetorical question by explaining that he could “eclipse and cloud them (the sun) with a wink,” therefore he has the strength. This takes away the effect of the beams having strength, as it is seen that he can make them disappear within a blink of his eye. Line thirteen features alliteration, the “c” at the start creating a very sharp effect on the reader, followed by the soft “w” sounds. Line 14 brings Donne back from his bragging to focus on the woman he is in love with, saying that if he blinded the sun he would loose sight of her, a romantic gesture. Line 15 features a paradox from