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READ THIS
This is a rather complicated but saucy love poem in which the poet addresses the Sun and speaks to him
about love and about his loved one.
The poet centres on the heat of passion and on the solitary focus of the two lovers: they are the centre
of the universe, while all wealth and happiness is but an imitation of their wealth and happiness.
ABOUT THE POET
John Donne -- pronounced "Dunn" -- was born in London in 1572. His was a wealthy Catholic
family.
It was the time of the English Reformation, however, which meant that being a Catholic carried onerous
restrictions.
For example, although Donne went to both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, he could not graduate
without taking the Oath of Supremacy, something which he refused at the time to do.
His father left him a sizeable inheritance. The poet was a known womaniser, however, and made the
dreadful mistake of marrying one of these women in secret.
This caused his father-in-law to throw him into prison, refusing to pay his daughter's dowry.
The disgrace saw Donne cast out of a promising prosperous career. To mark this tragedy, Donne wrote
his now famous three line poem:
John Donne,
Anne Donne,
Undone.
It would take some ten years for the breach to heal and Donne's fortunes to look up.
At about this time the poet also decided to renounce the Catholic Church, probably because of the
advantages that being an Anglican would offer him.
His anti-Catholic writings soon caught the eye of King James himself who believed that Donne would be
a good churchman.
The poet, it seems, was then forced into taking Holy Orders against his will but nevertheless became
famous for the quality of the sermons which he preached.
Donne lived when the Voyages of Discovery were at their peak and talk was abounding of the New World
in the Americas.
Dinner parties would be dominated by maps showing the expansion of the British Empire versus the
regions being occupied by the Spaniards and the French.
Anne Donne died in 1617 while giving birth to their twelfth child. The poet's own life would take on a sickly
hue from then on, until he himself died in 1631.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"She is all states, and all princes I;
Nothing else is;
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy."
- What does the poet mean when he says, "She is all states, and all princes
I"? (4)
[Need help?]
This is probably a delightfully sexist statement.
His loved one represents the wealth of all states on earth. He, on the other hand, has the power and
authority of all the rulers.
Does this mean, therefore, that he rules her? Or does it mean that he just uses the wealth she offers him
in the same way that rulers exploit the wealth of their country? If so, the poet is probably speaking in a
sexual sense?
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- In what way do princes "play us"? (2)
[Need help?]
The poet is claiming that he and his loved one are the model for everything. The princes are therefore
simply imitating them, or playing a role in a play that was written for them by the poet and his lover.
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[Need help?]
In medieval times, chemists were mainly alchemists, people who attempted to transform base metal like
lead into something truly wealthy like gold.
Various ingredients were used to bring about this transformation although, at its essence, was the use of
magic.
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- What does the poet mean when he says, "All honour's mimic, all wealth
alchemy"? (4)
[Need help?]
Every honour that can be given, and all the wealth that can be earned, is merely a poor imitation of the
honour the poet has of being with or sleeping with his loved one.
It is as if all the wealth of the world is just useless. Only if it can be transformed by means of magic can
it count as anywhere near the wealth of being with his loved one.
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"Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy centre is, these walls thy sphere."
- The poet makes fun of the power or worth of the Sun. In what way does he do this? (2)
[Need help?]
The poet claims that the Sun has only one duty: to warm the world. But that duty, he says, is completed
because he and his lover are already warm -- warm through making love.
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- Why does the poet claim that, were the Sun to shine on them, then "thou art
everywhere"? (4)
[Need help?]
We have here another amusing piece of exaggeration. The poet claims that he and his lover are the
centre of the universe. Everything turns around them. (I know many people who think this of themselves!)
Should the Sun shine on them, therefore, it would be shining on the whole universe because he and his
lover are the universe.
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- What is the significance of the poet's conclusion, "This bed thy centre is, these walls thy
sphere"? (2)
[Need help?]
When all is said and done, the poet concludes that the bed in which he is making love is the centre of the
universe.
Spoken like a true man!
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This poet is loaded with sexual innuendo.
- Can you find examples of this? (10)
[Need help?]
You can work this out for yourself. We don't want your teacher or your parents banning our site.
It starts, however, with the very title of the poem and continues on from there. And there are plenty of
examples of sexual innuendo! Such as "country ants".
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