A Literary Analysis of John Donne's Love Poem Break of Day

The theme of John Donne's love poem "Break of Day" is lovers parting at dawn and the metaphorical comparison of the speaker's love to the elements of day and night. This poem assumes a feminine point of view which is revealed in its structure and thematical development.

The poem is constructed of three stanzas; each stanza contains six lines. The first stanza is written in the form of a dramatic monologue of four questions demanding confirmation if the speaker's lover is going to leave because day has come.The speaker questions the importance of time and conventions of love making as day rolls into night and night rolls into day. The second stanza is based on a personalification of light and how it affects the speaker's attitude towards his or her lover. It is also based on a condition that if light could see, things that were not initially apparent, would suddenly beocme clear. The third stanza concretely describes the daily activities associated with light such as business and work and how they negatively affect the attitude of the speaker.

The thematic developmentis elaborated through diction and tone. The diction contains simple vocabulary based on simple everyday experiences. In the first stanza, the speaker says: "Tis true, 'tis day; What though it be? O Wilt thou therefore rise from me?" This illustrates the speaker's bewilderment knowing that her lover will leave because day has arrived. The use of the modal verb "should" in "Why should we rise..." and "should in despite of light" illustrates the speaker's argumentative tone and need to convince through logical thought that their love should remain straong regardless of the elements of "day" and "night."
In the second stanza the diction and tone are expressed through the personlification of light. Light is described as "all eye," referring to its keen sight and its ability to spy. Finally the third stanza illustrates the speaker's disapproval of mixing business with love. This is corroborated through the use of superlatives in "Must business thee from hence remove? ... worst disease.: here, the speaker opposes a relationship where business and work interfere with love.

The development of each stanza is based on a different metaphor. In the first stanza, light is associated with "rising" implying physical activity while night is associated with activity, inlcuding sexual activity while "lie down" implies nonactivity. Since the lover is rising from the beloved, after a night of activity, rise and lie are both activie elements and thje speaker shouldn't stop loving. In the second stanza, light is compared to a human being who has vision that reaches all corners of the earth. However, it cannot speak. The speaker implies that if light could speak, it wold tell of a possible betrayal therefore destroying the speaker's honor and love. The third stanza bases its metaphor on the moral aspect of preserving love.

Each stanza is written with unstressed and unaccented syllables. The rhythm is pre-planned, flows naturally and is uniform. The rhyme scheme is of couplets. This presents a smooth and logical train of thought. There is also inverted syntax in the lines: "Must business thee from hence remove?"