Morning Song by William Davenant

Song Meaning

This poem opens with a vivid morning scene, where the lark, rising from its nest, mistakes a window for the dawn. The bird's song is a plea for light, framing the beloved's eyes as the true source of the morning's beauty. It’s a striking image, suggesting the lover’s world is entirely centered on their beloved, eclipsing even the natural order of sunrise. The central tension lies in the contrast between the external world’s predictable rhythms and the lover’s singular focus. While the merchant follows the stars and the farmer waits for the sun, the narrator dismisses these as irrelevant. The poem implies that for the true lover, the day cannot begin until their mistress is awake and visible, making her the ultimate arbiter of time and light. The craft here is in the personification and the elevated language. The lark doesn't just sing; it "climbs" and "shakes his dewy Wings," and its song is an "implore." The mistress isn't just waking up; she's dressing her "Beauty at your Eies" and drawing back "Curtains" to "begin the Dawne." This deliberate elevation turns the act of waking into a grand, almost cosmic event, dictated by the beloved's presence. This lyrical construction is effective because it captures the all-consuming nature of intense romantic devotion. By framing the beloved as the literal sun and the dawn, the poem exaggerates the lover's perspective to a point of beautiful absurdity. The repeated "Awake, awake" acts as a desperate, urgent plea, highlighting how the lover’s entire existence is suspended until their world is illuminated by their mistress’s gaze.