McMeekin 1

Jacob McMeekin
Weathersbee
AP Lit and Comp
13 November 2013
Love Trumps All
Some people find it difficult to express how much they love their significant other. John
Dole has no difficulty in accomplishing this difficult task. The Sun Rising, a poem written by
Dole, is entirely devoted to telling his significant other how much he loves her.
When first looking at the title of the work, one would think the poem revolves around a
sunrise or depict a scene where a sunrise occurs. However, the poem is much more in depth than
that. Dole is instead bossing the sun around, asking why the sun interrupted his night with his
lover, telling the sun the he is better than it, and that the sun should only worry about shining on
he and his lover. In order to accomplish this task, Dole incorporates several literary devices,
such as apostrophe, imagery, and overstatement. Apostrophe is used throughout the poem,
anytime that Dole addresses the sun. Dole incorporates imagery in the second stanza, discussing
the suns blinding abilities, but his power to shut it off by closing his eyes. Overstatement is
found multiple times in the poem, and is utilized to express Doles love for his lover. When dole
states, She's all states, and all princes I ; Nothing else is, he is expressing his cockiness and
stating that only he and his lover exist in the world. In a second example of overstatement, he
makes a similar point, asserting that their love is all that matters, compared to this, All honour's
mimic, all wealth alchemy. These devices also demonstrate Doles bossy and cocky attitude
towards the sun.
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With each new stanza, there is a shift in Doles level of confidence when confronting the sun.
During the first stanza, he just asks for the sun to simply to shinning. In the second, Dole tells
the sun he is better than, saying when he closes his eyes the sun stops shinning. In the third, his
confidence grows even more, and he tells the sun it should only shine on him and his lover.
After reading and examining the poem, the title takes on a completely new meaning.
Instead of simply being about sunrises, it is mocking the sun and belittling it. Each of the
previously mentioned aspects contributes to the overarching theme that Dole was attempting
that love trumps all. This theme is most evident in one of Doles last uses of overstatement,
which was previously mentioned, compared to this, All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
With this hyperbole, Dole conveys how love is greater than all, including the sun.













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Works Cited
Arp, Thomas R. "The Sun Rising." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. [S.l.]:
Cengage Learning, 2009. 751-52. Print.