Love, Reflected Through the Work of John Donne.

             John Donne writes with an overwhelming and intense feeling that is strongly reflected in his work. Much of his poetry is written for his wife, reflecting his unwavering emotion for her, however, the motivation of God and the church fuels his writing as well. In many of his poems it can be seen that Donne speaks of love with strong emotion. It seems that love means a great deal to him, and this emotion is unmistakably shown through the poems "The Sun Rising," "The Canonization" and "The Holy Sonnet." .

             In "The Sun Rising," the sun is used to contrast the narrator"s feeling of love. The narrator feels a sort of barrier between the sun and the world, something that does not exist between two lovers. The narrator says that "Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time" indicating the difference between the ever present emotion of love and the rising and setting of the sun. The word "rags," used to indicate fragments, has a negative connotation as if anything less than forever like the sun"s day to day presence is not acceptable. This also in a way gives us a hint to the loss of his wife. She passed away, but to Donne he feels that anything less than forever is unacceptable.

             The narrator speaks of the sun"s "beams, so reverend and strong," but fails to discern why the sun should be valued so highly; since the sun is not always seen, the narrator feels that love is more majestic and worthy of reverence because it knows no time of day. The speaker says that he "could eclipse and cloud" the sun by closing his eyes, blocking out it light. Love, however, is something that remains even when the object of one"s affection cannot be physically seen. Again this too shows the loss of Donne"s wife. Even though she has passed away and they can no longer be together.