What Does Donne Say About the Nature of True Love in “The Sun Rising?

Answer

What does Donne say about the nature of true love in “The Sun Rising”?

“The Sun Rising” (1633) is a beautiful love poem by John Donne (1572-1631). In this poem, Donne talks about true love. According to him, true love is perfect and timeless. It does not follow the rules of time. For Donne, true lovers do not need anything else. They feel complete in themselves.

True Love is Not Controlled by Time: At the beginning of the poem, the poet becomes angry at the sun. He scolds, “Busy old fool, unruly sun.” Because the sun is shining into their bedroom and disturbing the lovers. He tells it to go away. He says that lovers can enjoy their time whenever they want. They do not have to follow the sun or maintain a routine. Donne also says that true love is above time. He writes:

“Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime”

Things like seasons, climate, hours, days, and months are not important in love. These things become old and useless with time, but true love does not. True love is timeless, and it does not care about time or season.

Lovers Are Complete in Themselves: In the second stanza, Donne says that he and his beloved are everything to each other. She is like all the kingdoms of the world. Her presence is more important than all the wealth in the world. Donne feels that the East Indies and West Indies, which are full of gold and treasure, are now inside their bedroom. He writes:

“She’s all states, and all princes, I,

Nothing else is.”

This means his lover is like all the countries, and he is like all the princes. They do not need anything else but each other. True lovers feel complete in themselves.

In short, Donne says that true love is perfect and timeless. It makes lovers feel like they have the whole world in each other.