NON —AFRICAN POETRY
Discuss the changing mood of the poet in “The Sun Rising”
Explanation
The Sunne Rising is a dramatization of an imagined confrontation between a lover and the sun. Initially, the poet feigns a foul and angry mood, as the sun shines into the room where he and his mistress are still lying in bed. He not only describes the sun as "busy" and "unruly" but also calls the sun a "fool". The poet directs the sun to its routine rounds - "goe chide late schoole boyes, and sowre prentices... " etc. admonishing it to do its job and not annoy him. All this occurs in the first stanza.
In the second stanza, the poet's stance appears to soften as he acknowledges the power of the sun's rays. He trivializes it and boasts that he could "eclipse" it "with a wink". In this, there is both arrogance and sarcasm.
The boast continues in the third stanza where he presents his lover as perfection itself. For both of them are an embodiment of royalty and all the riches of the world. The mood here is triumphant. Suddenly (still in the third stanza) the poet's mood becomes conciliatory and amiable. He sees the sun as aging and requiring rest, yet having his work to do. The poet's anger seems to have cooled off considerably. He asks the sun to shine on him and his lover. He is obviously proud that, after all, the best place for the sun to do his job, if he is to do it well, is the closet/room where the lovers are, for that epitomizes the vast world round which the sun must travel daily. This, the poet contends, will ease the suns' burden though he will have fully accomplished his task by simply staying with the lovers. The mood at this point, besides being conciliatory, is also patronizing.
It can be said that the initially angry mood of the poet changes to become persuasive, then conciliatory and patronizing.