“The Good Morrow” and the “The Sun Rising” Love Theme Comparison
The poem “Good Morrow”(John Donne), reinforces the idea that metaphysical love reigns supreme above everything else that life can offer. This theme of divine love is similarly replicated by “The Sun Rising”(John Donne), in which the sun is trivialised in order to accentuate the substance of romance. Both poems exhibit eloquent comparisons in relation to affection; these contrasts are achieved by the means of Donne’s artful personification of inanimate objects. Despite the congruence of themes that lie within these two poems, “The Good Morrow” likens the metaphysical connection of two true lovers to a spiritual or religious awakening — whereas “The Sun Rising” depicts the sway of physical intimacy as a form of “love”. The aforementioned poetic works help towards understanding the versatility of John Donne, moreover — a step closer to unearthing the true ideals of the esteemed poet.
The dominant theme of both the poems is love being of ultimate importance. Donne highlights that real love is everlasting, that it “none do slacken, none can die ’. Romantic intimacy is also described to “knows no season knows nor clime”, elaborating upon the splendour of love which is above the influence of weather and climate; the next line emphasises this further by claiming that “Love, all alike” is indifferent to “the rags of time”. Furthermore, the use of personification and underplay in reference to the “busy old fool, unruly sun” diminishes the power it holds and places the “motions lovers’” to be of higher value. Such examples show that love is boundless and can drastically alter the human condition — it is claimed to be even greater than “Worlds on worlds”. Donne boldly creates vast comparisons between acts of endearment and inanimate objects of grand proportions in order to romanticise divine love being “one world” itself. This weight placed on love and the impact it can have on an individual can be seen throughout both of the poems. It is the duty of it “to warm the world or greet “waking souls” — whether it be physical or metaphysical; further adding to the important role that it plays in these works. It can be concluded that Donne’s poetic persona was likened to a romantic. But the type of love and style it portrayed varies starkly between the two pieces.
The approach taken in “The Good Morrow” is of the “beauty…desired” and of love enabling “waking souls”. The way in which it is written prescribes the intertwining of two souls to be divine by mingling elements of romance with spiritual realisations. The author ponders about how they have lived life “childishly” and simply indulged in “country pleasures” until this spiritual awakening. The poem is reminiscent of an old and sophisticated love-letter that is partially religious due to the fabrication of love possibly being perfect. With no mention of physical intimacy, it brings up the idea of finding a soul-mate and claims that true intellectual love is superior to anything else — such romance is a world of its own. There is an aspect of the poem which shows that love is divine and holy by comparing “one little room”, belonging to the lovers, to be equally as significant as “sea-discovers to new worlds”. This divinity also comes from the beauty of love which can be seen from something as simple as an affectionate gaze, showing “my face in thine eye, thine in mine appears”. “The Good Morrow” utilises the divinity and spiritual aspects of love to explain its importance. Distinctively, in the “Sun rising” Donne treasures physical intimacy as greater than working or even waking up early in the day. The “saucy pedantic wretch” which is the sun, is scolded for calling “through curtains” on the bed of two lovers. The love is belittled before the great value of physical touch through the idea that the sun should only “warm the world” and will never be “half as happy as we”(referring to the lovers in a room). This contrast in writing style to the “the Good Morrow” is more casual and a complaint to the sun — metaphorical for waking the lovers up from their romance. Both poems value love to be a significant aspect of life but conflictingly portray “love”. One of them claiming that only intellectual and divine love is “true” whereas the latter minimises the sun to boast the desire for physical touch.
John Donne intricately develops the idea of love throughout both of these poems by using literary techniques such as personification and metaphors but also the greater ideas and comparisons displayed. There are differences and similarities between both pieces and these only add to the mysterious nature of John Donne, by creating contradictions between almost every poem, some being spiritual and others solely lustful.
