Selected Poems of John Donne: The Sun Rising

by John Donne
In "The Sun Rising," John Donne employs apostrophe, a figure of speech in which someone addresses an absent person, thing, or idea. The poem's speaker chastises the sun for interrupting his time with his beloved. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for other poems by John Donne: "The Canonization", "The Flea", "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning", "Song: Go and catch a falling star", "Death, be not proud"
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unruly
    unable to be governed or controlled
    Busy old fool, unruly sun,
    Why dost thou thus,
    Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
  2. thus
    in the way indicated
    Busy old fool, unruly sun,
    Why dost thou thus,
    Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
  3. saucy
    improperly forward or bold
    Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
    Late school boys and sour prentices
  4. pedantic
    marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning
    Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
    Late school boys and sour prentices
  5. wretch
    someone you feel sorry for
    Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
    Late school boys and sour prentices
  6. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
    Late school boys and sour prentices
  7. sour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
    Late school boys and sour prentices
  8. prentice
    someone who works for an expert to learn a trade
    Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
    Late school boys and sour prentices
  9. court
    the family, advisors, and retinue of a sovereign or prince
    Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride
  10. huntsman
    someone who hunts game
    Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride
  11. clime
    the weather in some location averaged over a period of time
    Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
    Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
  12. reverend
    worthy of adoration or respect
    Thy beams, so reverend and strong
    Why shouldst thou think?
  13. eclipse
    overshadow a celestial body
    I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink
  14. mine
    excavation from which ores and minerals are extracted
    If her eyes have not blinded thine,
    Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,
    Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
    Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
  15. mimic
    constituting an imitation
    Princes do but play us; compared to this,
    All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
  16. alchemy
    a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times
    Princes do but play us; compared to this,
    All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
  17. contracted
    reduced in size or pulled together
    Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,
    In that the world's contracted thus.
  18. sphere
    the surface on which celestial bodies appear to be projected
    Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
    This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.
Created on Mon Nov 27 15:43:20 EST 2017 (updated Wed Nov 29 10:27:14 EST 2017)

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