Rumination 2: The Sun Rises, Then Falls, But Love Lasts Forever…

After reading this week’s prologue and watching the videos, I expected all of the poems to speak of death and horrible, sad thoughts. Instead, as I was reading, John Donne’s poem, “The Sun Rising” I felt a feeling of love, and not pain, as I had expected.  The poem speaks of beauty and love as a cherished thing, that is awakened and interrupted by the sunlight once morning comes. These emotions can be felt through the writer’s use of personification, metaphors, and word choice.

                The poem starts out with personification by saying, “Busy old fool, unruly sun/Why dost thou thus/Through windows and through curtains call on us?” These lines show that the sun is being compared to an old foolish person. I assume that the sun is an “old fool”, because it has been around forever. This literary use allows the reader to envision the sun gleaming through the windows in the morning. The poem continues by using metaphors to compare love to time and mentions that love does not have a time period, it is continuous, it is endless, not like the hours, days, seasons, and months.

                In the second stanza of the poem, I initially was confused by who “her” (line 14) was referring to. I was not sure if it was referring to her as the sun or her as his lover, the one who is lying with him in bed and has also been awakened by the great, strong, beams of morning light. Then, I reread these lines,  “I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,/ But that I would not lose her sight so long.” These lines prove that the speaker is saying that he could wink, and cover the light from the sun, but he does not want to close his eyes for too long, because he does not want to take them off his lover’s.  The speaker of the poem, then continues to talk to the sun as a person and tells the sun to go away, and wake up someone else, someone who lives somewhere else, because right now they are just so happy lying in their bed together.

                The speaker of the poem continues to use metaphors say, “She is all states, and all princes I/Nothing else is.” What the speaker is saying is that no one else compares to them.  Personification returns when he says, “Thou, sun, art half as happy as we/In that the world’s contracted thus;” (lines 25-26).  These lines simply mean that the sun, even though it is shining brightly, is still not as happy as the lovers are right now, because  the world has created for them to meet and be together, in love.

                The poem ends by saying that it is the lovers ‘duty to warm the world with love, like the world has warmed them with sunlight. Now it seems, that the lovers are appreciative of the sun, but they want the sun to know that unlike the sun, which comes up in the morning, and goes down in the evening, their love does not have a time limit. Line 30 says, “This bed thy center is, these walls they sphere.” The sun shines everywhere and is in the center of the world,  just like the lovers’ bed is the center of the world, because their love is filling the world with warmth.

More information about the influences of Shakespeare's sonnets-Creative Engagement

 It is always interesting to understand what is going on in a writer's head and who the writing is thinking about when he/she writes. So, I just wrote my rumination about the young man Shakespeare addresses in many of his sonnets, but I was curious as to who this man was. After doing a quick search, I found some information and still people are not definite about who this young man was, who the dark lady was, or the rival poet. They do have some ideas though. If you follow this link below, and scroll down you can read about what people think.

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xSonnets.html

Rumination One-William Shakespeare-A Good Friend Indeed

This week, when I saw that we would be reading sonnets written by  William Shakespeare, I was interested because I immediately thought of Shakespeare's playwrights, not his poetry. After reading a few of his sonnets, I recall reading some of them in high school, such as Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?") (1063). In high school, I remember analyzing each line and metaphor in these sonnets, but I never remember grasping a bigger picture or main idea. It was not until I reread these sonnets, over and over again, many for the first time, that I came to a realization about  Shakespeare, the poet, and his own life. It is evident in many of these sonnets that Shakespeare, wanted these poems to be remembered for their powerful words and true meaning, and a series of these sonnets discuss how he wants his friend to be remembered. Poetry is the only way for his friend and even himself to live on forever and that seems to have been his motive.

As mentioned earlier, when I first read Sonnet 18, I analyzed the metaphors (it is impossible not to do this with poetry-I know). The poem compares the one, possibly Shakespeare's friend to a summer's day, and it says that summer ends and the physical beauty of it dims, by the external beauty never dies. Specifically it says, "But thy eternal summer shall not fade."  I believe this line means that the spirit of the person never dies and keeps living on. After analyzing the metaphors, I paid closer attention to the couplet at the end which says, " So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee." (lines 13 and 14). This is one of the first sonnets, from this week's selections where I saw this idea of "remembrance through poetry". He wants this poem to be remembered, it will will never die;  this is how his friend will be remembered and his life relived. 

This pattern continues in the following sonnet, Sonnet 19. The main idea of this poem is that he wants his friend to be remembered for his young self, not what what will become of him after he dies. He wants his friend to live, "forever young". The couplet at the end of the sonnet again, sums it all up. The last two lines, lines13 and 14 state, "Yet do they worst, old Time: despite the wrong, my love shall in my verse live young." This sonnet was written so that all who read it, even us today, can imagine his dear friend, as a young fellow, and not a dead, decayed body.

Sonnet 55 is another exceptional example of how Shakespeare wants his friend to be remembered. He says, "But you shall shine more bright in these contents".  What he means is that even if or when the world comes to an end, his friend will still not be forgotten, because there are powerful words written about him and this will outlive the end of the world. The couplet again says at the very end, "You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes."  As long as this poem exists, so will the spirit of his friend.

The above examples are just a few that exemplify the meaning of these sonnets and what Shakespeare wanted the reader to remember about his friend and himself as a poet. These poems show what really was important to Shakespeare at this time. They prove that he was a good friend indeed, because not only did he want to remember his friend, but he wanted everyone to learn about and love him. The poems help us feel the emotions Shakespeare had for his friend, and centuries from now others will still feel these emotions, because Shakespeare wrote them down for this reason. I think that if his friend should be honored, because his life is still embraced and will forever be so.

John Mayer - Edge of Desire [With Lyrics]

5. John Mayer-Perfectly Lonely [lyrics on screen]

John Mayer - Heartbreak Warfare [HQ]

John Mayer's War of Love-Lyrical Sequence

John Mayer, a singer and song writer known for his popularity of breaking the hearts of various beautiful women all over Hollywood, sings about his own personal war-the war he faces with love. This war of love is expressed in his latest album Battle Studies. This album is considered to be a concept album, because it speaks of one thing over and over-love. As I listened to this album, which is all written in first person like lyrical poetry, I think about the meaning of each song. I have concluded it is obvious that Mayer is speaking of one relationship in particular. Each song is a different chapter in this story of love between him and the lover he has in mind. I would like to share the story with you.

The album begins with "the war", simply the heartbreak with the entitled song, "Heartbreak Warfare". The emotions are simple and strong. The relationship has just ended and the speaker of the song is heartbroken and feels like his whole world is crashing down. These feelings can be described when he says, "Clouds of sulfur in the air/bombs are falling everywhere/it's heartbreak warfare/once you want it to begin/no one really ever wins/in heartbreak warfare." The lines that follow these suggests that Mayer’s significant other wanted more love, that Mayer did not provide her with this, and he wonders why she never spoke up. Now he is nothing more than brokenhearted.

The second song, “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye”, again talks about how heartbroken he is and how this relationship is one break up after another. He talks about how he finally gets this woman and the relationship off his mind and then she barges right back in. This time he does not want to let this lover back in his life because they will eventually break up again like, they always do. Why should he be left brokenhearted again, when he finally feels okay?

“Half of my Heart”, the song that follows expresses how after he has been through such a tragic break up, he now will only give half of his heart, because he does not want to be disappointed again. He knows that he loves her, but for his own sake he cannot go through that experience again. He says, “Half of my heart got a real good imagination/half of my heart’s got you/half of my heart’s got a right mind to tell you/that half of my heart won’t do.” This lines express that though he loves her, the other half wants something else, and they cannot have a relationship if he only gives half of his love.

The song that follows, “Who Says”, John’s first release off this album, continues with the love story. This “chapter” is talking about how he has no one holding him back from doing the things that he wants to do. He is starting to realize what he wants to do, and has forgotten the love that tore him about him apart. He says, “I don’t remember you looking any better/but then again I don’t remember you.” He is living his life, for himself, and on his own.

“Perfectly Lonely”, the next song on the album is the turning point. The dreary sounds from the previous songs has faded away and his spirits are uplifted and expressed with an upbeat tone. Finally, he is over the relationship, he has lived for himself, and realized that he is happy all alone. This is evident when he says, “Nothing to do, no one but me/and that’s all I ever need.” He also continues in this song to thank the lovers he has in the past because, they have helped him appreciate this love that he has for himself and the happiness he has now that he is all alone.

After a while who really is happy being all alone? Sometimes we just need someone there, a familiar face, to be with for the night for comfort and love. In this song, Mayer says, “You get in/you get done/ and then you get gone.” He is saying he runs back to his lover, for the night, does the “job” he came to do, and then he leaves in the morning, with no feelings at all (or so that was his initial intentions). He knows that in the morning she will have feelings, and that it will kill her that they are not in a relationship, but he just needs her to be around because he knows she will always be there waiting for him. He admits that the girl is an assassin too and like he stole her heart, she stole his as well and he cannot stop the emotions between them.

“Crossroads”, which is a remake of a cover by Robert Johnson, continues the story from right where it left off in the previous song. Now, he is once again torn. He does not know what to do. He forgot about his lover, and then went back to her during the night for some affection that he thought would have no meaning, but realizes there are still feelings. In this song, he asks for a plea-he needs help!

He continues to be torn during the next song, “War of my Life”. He says, “No more suffering/no more pain/never again.” He does not want to return to those sad and heartbroken times in his life, but from the previous songs, we have learned that he does have feelings for this woman. He says he will not give in and will fight until the feelings go away. Will the feelings ever go away? How will he get through this war?

The war of love continues with the battle of “Edge of Desire”. Once again confused and mixed between emotions, he is so tempted and realizes that he can easily give in and stop running away from this woman. His feelings are best expressed in this song when he says, “I want you so bad/I’ll go back on the things I believe/ there I just said it/I’m scared you’ll forget about me.” He cannot help the emotions that are going on inside, even after all the fighting he has done. He has to keep this woman around, because he does not want her to forget about him and move on. He finally confesses his true feelings, but remember he had different beliefs before and was only willing to give half of his heart. Are these feelings true or does he just not want to see her happy with someone else?

In the next song, “Do You Know Me at All?” the lovers see each other, possibly think about getting back together. Mayer comes to one conclusion he is not the same person he once was when the two of them were together-he has changed. The woman does not recognize this changed person and Mayer just wants to know, do you know me at all?

Finally, the final chapter concludes the story with “Friends, Lovers, or Nothing”. “Friends, lovers, or nothing/there can only be one/there will never be an in-between/so give it up,” is what Mayer says. It is simple, a decision has to be made, these two cannot go on with the type of relationship they have. They were once lovers, and then separated; now they are changed people. What will they will they be? Can they just be friends after all they have been through? Can they be lovers (possibly just have a sexual relationship)?  On the other hand, must they just end it all and be nothing. 

The lyrics and tones of each of these songs are so powerful that the person listening is able to feel the emotions, that Mayer is feeling. I would like to think that this is about Jen Aniston, but the only person that knows is John Mayer. I am sure that we have all experienced some type of war of love. This could be the heartbreak, like the beginning songs suggests, the self-love like the middle songs express, the feeling to need someone back for comfort,  or just a time when we have had to make a decision about a relationship. The war of love is over once you make a decision, but does anyone truly win?

I have included a few of the videos, they are on my site (I wasn't sure how to get them all below). I choose these videos in particular so that you can see each “chapter” of the story. Enjoy and I encourage you to listen to the rest of them.

John Mayer - Friends, Lovers Or Nothing