I’ll You How the Sun Rose
I’ll tell you how the Sun rose –
A Ribbon at a time –
The Steeples swam in Amethyst –
The news, like Squirrels, ran –The Hills untied their Bonnets –
The Bobolinks – begun –
Then I said softly to myself –
“That must have been the Sun”!But how he set – I know not –
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while –Till when they reached the other side –
A Dominie in Gray –
Put gently up the evening Bars –
And led the flock away –
Meanings of I Tell You How the Sun Rose
The poem presents a child speaker showing his observation of the rising of the sun. “I Tell You How the Sun Rose” shows the main ideas of love of nature, deep observation, and innocent description of the natural phenomenon.
Meanings of Lines 1-4
I’ll tell you how the Sun rose –
A Ribbon at a time –
The Steeples swam in Amethyst –
The news, like Squirrels, ran –
The speaker, who is a child, states that he is going to tell how the rise rises. It is the incident that he has watched in the past as the use of the past participle of “rise” shows. He is likely to have observed it in Amethyst. However, it is interesting that his observation is like something bright coming up in the water as the ribbon around it and the swimming of the church steeple shows, but the race of squirrels shows the overall natural elements that the speaker relates to the rising sun. This stanza presents the love of nature, nature, and man versus nature as the main ideas.
Meanings of Lines 5-8
The Hills untied their Bonnets –
The Bobolinks – begun –
Then I said softly to myself –
“That must have been the Sun”!
The speaker presents the results of the rising of the sun. He sees that the hills have become bare after they become bright with the sunlight. Bobolinks begin to sing, and the child knows that when both of these events take place, it means the sun has risen. The child is not only highly sensitive to the changes in nature as he observes two different events and then concludes that the sun has risen. This shows the human links to nature and their observation of natural events.
Meanings of Lines 8-12
But how he set – I know not –
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while –
The speaker seems to suggest that the sun has risen and all the boys are girls are up to their games. He sees them jumping on the fence, climbing it through its stile, and making a noise. The purple color of the stile and the act of climbing of the girls and boys show feverish activities that go along with the sun. The boy’s observation shows the dominance of nature and man’s significance.
Meanings of Lines 12-16
Till when they reached the other side –
A Dominie in Gray –
Put gently up the evening Bars –
And led the flock away –
The speaker sees the boys and girls jumping across the fence and the reaction of a grown-up clergyman, perhaps. He gently raises the bars to stop the flocking of the boys and girls. This also shows that a grownup could lead the flocks to another way merely by raising bars. The time of the evening is prominent that the leader knows best or else this boy knows that the day has come to an end. This deep observation of the end of activities shows nature, man’s love, and dependence on nature.
Summary of I Tell You How the Sun Rose
- Popularity of “I Tell You How the Sun Rose”: Written by Emily Dickinson, a bright American poet “I Tell You How the Sun Rose” is a metaphysical poem. The poem beautifully describes the heartwarming scenes of the sunrise and the sunset. In a metaphorical sense, the poem speaks about joyous life and uncertain death. It, however, has gained immense popularity by making a meaningful connection between nature and man’s life.
- “I Tell You How the Sun Rose” As a Representative of Nature: This poem presents the spectacular beauty of the rising and the setting sun. It begins when the speaker compares the rising of the sun to a series of ribbons in the sky. She further explains how the rising sun baths the churches’ tops in deep violet color like amethyst. Then, she compares the news of the rising sun to the running of the squirrels, hills, and Bobolinks. The first two stanzas show how nature welcomes the sun, with a special focus on natural beauty. However, from the third stanza, the poem’s focus drifts from sunrise to sunset. The excitement of the speaker begins to fade, and it seems that she has little knowledge about the sunset. The last two stanzas simply describe how the sun sets in the west, leaving behind the delighted memories of its existence. The ending, however, alludes to death. Using metaphors, the speaker says that God waits for humans on the other side of the world.
- Major Themes in “I Tell You How the Sun Rose”: Natural beauty, man versus nature, and life and death are the major themes of the poem. On a surface level, the poem describes the sentiments of a young speaker, like what she feels while observing the rising and the setting of the sun. On a deeper level, the poem depicts how life begins on earth with lots of happiness. The writer examines life, death, and, most importantly transition between them. Also, she brings to light the theme of spirituality, one of the common themes in Dickinson’s poetry. The final stanza uses words like “Dominie in Grey” and “Flock” to show that God awaits human beings on the other corner of the world. Thus, the rising of the sun stands for the beginning of new life, and the setting of the sun symbolizes death.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in I Tell You How the Sun Rose
literary devices are very important elements of a literary text. Their use not only brings richness to the text but also makes the reader understand the story. Emily Dickinson also made this poem superb by using figurative language. The analysis of the devices used in the poem is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “The Hills untied their Bonnets” and “Till when they reached the other side.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /s/ in “The Steeples swam.”
- Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. Emily has repeated the word “the” in the first stanza of the poem to emphasize the point, such as;
“The news, like Squirrels, ran –
The Hills untied their Bonnets –
The Bobolinks – begun”
- Allusion: Allusion is a belief and an indirect reference of a person, place, thing, or idea of a historical, cultural, political, or literary significance. The final lines of the poem allude to life after death, such as;
“Put gently up the evening Bars –
And led the flock away.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “That must have been the Sun” and the sound of /s/ in “The Steeples swam in Amethyst.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Emily Dickenson used imagery in this poem, such as “I’ll tell you how the Sun rose”, “That must have been the Sun” and “Till when they reached the other side.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet has used life and death as extended metaphors in the poem to show how life brings joy to the world and death makes the world sad.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbolism such as; life, death, amazement, and beauty.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in I Tell You How the Sun Rose
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and impressive images.
- Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are sixteen lines in the poem with no stanza break.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are apt to use when describing the mesmerizing and heartwarming scenes of the rising sun.
“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose –
A Ribbon at a time –
The Steeples swam in Amethyst –
The news, like Squirrels, ran –
The Hills untied their Bonnets”