The Primacy of Love

The central theme of "The Sun Rising" is about the power of love. Specifically, the speaker argues that love is more powerful than even the order of the universe, and thus lovers should be exempt from the rules of space and time that the sun represents. In the first stanza, the speaker says, "Busy old fool, unruly sun, / Why dost thou thus, / Through windows, and through curtains call on us? / Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?" (1-4). Here, the speaker expresses frustration over the sun's presence in his bedroom, where he resides with his beloved. The speaker asks why lovers must also subscribe to the same order that others – including school boys, huntsmen, and farmers – must follow for their day. Instead, the speaker argues that love "no season knows nor clime, / Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time" (9-...