“Ah! Sun-flower” Introduction

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“Ah! Sun-flower” Summary

“Ah! Sun-flower” Themes

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  Longing for the Divine

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Ah! Sun-flower”

• Lines 1-2

  Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
  Who countest the steps of the Sun:

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-4

  Seeking after that sweet golden clime
  Where the travellers journey is done.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

  Where the Youth pined away with desire,
  And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow:

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-8

  Arise from their graves and aspire,
  Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

  

  

  

  

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“Ah! Sun-flower” Symbols

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  The Sunflower

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• 

  The Sun

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“Ah! Sun-flower” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“Ah! Sun-flower” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Weary
• Countest
• Clime
• Pined Away
• Shrouded
• Arise
• Aspire

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Ah! Sun-flower”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Ah! Sun-flower” Speaker

“Ah! Sun-flower” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Ah! Sun-flower”

More “Ah! Sun-flower” Resources

• External Resources

  • Songs of Innocence and Experience — Visit the Blake Archive to see this collection as Blake originally published it: as a beautiful, illuminated manuscript.

  • "Ah! Sun-flower!" Engraving — Check out the poem in its original layout and with its accompanying artwork.

  • Blake's Biography — Learn more about Blake's life and work at the website of the British Library.

  • Blake's Visions — An excerpt from a documentary in which writer Iain Sinclair discusses Blake's religious visions. 

• LitCharts on Other Poems by William Blake

  • A Dream

  • A Poison Tree

  • Earth's Answer

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Innocence)

  • Infant Joy

  • Infant Sorrow

  • Introduction (Songs of Innocence)

  • London

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Clod and the Pebble

  • The Divine Image

  • The Ecchoing Green

  • The Fly

  • The Garden of Love

  • The Human Abstract

  • The Lamb

  • The Little Black Boy

  • The Little Vagabond

  • The School Boy

  • The Sick Rose

  • The Tyger

  • To Autumn

  • To the Evening Star